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INTERNATIONAL STATESMEN SERIES. 

EDITED BY LLOYD C. SANDEES. 



LORD BEACONSFIELD. 



r 



b 



LIFE 



OF 



LORD BEACONSFIELD. 



T. E. KEB 



BY 




philadei^phia: 
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 

1888. 



f/\ 



CT 



CO 



PREFACE TO THE SERIES. 



The intention of the Statesmen Series is, as its 
title implies, to comprise a collection of brief 
biographical studies of the great men who have 
influenced the political history of the world. 
Its scope is, therefore, extremely catholic, em- 
bracing the ancients and the moderns, conti- 
nental as well as English statesmen, and 
including not only those who have shaped our 
foreign policy and domestic institutions, but 
also the creators of our Indian and Colonial 
Empires. And the list of subjects will not be 
confined to those who have been statesmen ir 
the narrower sense of the term, that is, to 
ministers of State and members of legislative 
assemblies. A statesman, according to Dr. 
Johnson, is ** one w^ho is versed in political 
affairs," and statesmanship is exercised not 
only by Czars and Popes who act as their own 
Prime Ministers, but also by constitutional 



vi PBEFACK 

sovereigns who, tliough in theory they reign 
but do not govern, have frequently, as Sir 
Theodore Martin's Life of the Prince Consort 
shows, brought into action a very appreciable 
amount of personal authority. Even to modern 
republics, Thucydides' description of the Athe- 
nian constitution in the time of Pericles is 
invariably applicable — they are ostensibly 
democracies, but are, as a matter of fact, ruled 
by their first man. Presidents, therefore, and 
sovereigns — roiH faineants always excepted — 
will find places in the Statesmen Series. 

Though the Series will be comprehensive, it 
does not pretend to be exhaustive. Complete- 
ness of treatment is no doubt desirable in 
books of reference, the primary object of 
which is to supply information on points that 
general reading fails to illuminate, but would 
be unattainable in a collection of volumes 
which, though deriving a certain amount of 
strength from unity, must ultimately stand or 
fall by the merits of each individual work. 
Nor is the arrangement in which the volumes 
are to appear affected at all by any considera- 
tions of chronology. Their publication in 
historical order would, perhaps, have some 
advantages, but gaps would inevitably occur in 
the ranks, and the groups would fail to form a 
picture. The provinces of history and bio- 



PBEFACK vii 

graphy are, after all, widely different, and tlie 
old view of history which regarded it as a 
string of lives of great men has long since 
been consigned to the limbo of rejected 
fallacies. 

Political biography has, however, a distinct 
value and interest of its own ; for if the states- 
man is the child of his epoch, none the less 
is his epoch moulded by the statesman ; nor 
can the relative importance of great social 
movements be properly understood without an 
adequate knowledge of the human forces by 
which they are impelled or controlled. It is 
the aim of the Statesmen Series to supply that 
knowledge, in a compact form, and without 
prejudice to the larger works which, for those 
who have leisure to consult them, must always 
contain the most authoritative, because the 
most detailed, accounts of great political 
careers. And of incident and interest the 
lives of great statesmen, as a rule, possess a 
far greater measure than those of literary men, 
though less, perhaps, than those of men of 
action. For if much of a statesman's time is 
passed in the solitude of the study, much also 
is passed in the passionate precincts of the 
Senate and in the hardly less dramatic debates 
round the council-table. 

Within the limits of a well-defined subject, 



viii PBEFACE. 

the selection, then, will be purely arbitrary; 
and what the Series will lose in continuity of 
interest it will perhaps be thought to gain in 
variety. It so happens that the volumes in 
preparation, as well as that now published, deal 
with the present century, and may, therefore, 
be considered to derive a certain amount of 
additional interest from that quality which it is 
the fashion to call actuality. They are as fol- 
low : The Prince Consort^ by Miss Charlotte 
Yonge ; O'Gonnell, by J. A. Hamilton ; Prince 
GortscJiaJcoff, by Charles Marvin ; Gamhetta, by 
r. T. Marzials ; Earl Bussell^ by Edward Wal- 
f ord ; Lord P aimer ston, by the Editor. Other 
volumes have been arranged. 

L. 0. S. 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



** I DISAPPROVE of contemporary biography," Lord Bea- 
coDsfield oDce said to the present writer, " and I dislike 
being the subject of it.'^ We may reasonably conclude, 
therefore, that none of the biographies which appeared 
during his lifetime owe much to his own communica- 
tions. They are all in fact founded on materials acces- 
sible to the whole world ; nor, down to the present 
time, has his death set free any information not pre- 
viously known to all who had studied his career, beyond 
that contained in the. highly interesting Correspondence 
iviih his Sister brought out by Mr. Ealph Disraeli. The 
time will come when a complete and particular account 
of the life and times of Lord Beaconsfield will be one 
of the most interesting as well as one of the most valu- 
able works which can stand upon a statesman's shelves. 
Till then we must content ourselves with such provi- 
sional and preliminary biographies as, in the case of 
almost all our great men, precede the one final and 
authentic narrative which disposes of the subject and 
clears the field of all competitors. Of intermediate 
works of this description there are, in the case of Lord 



X PEEFATOEY NOTE. 

Beaconsfield, only three with which I am acquainted, 
pretending to the character of regular biographies, one 
by Mr. Thomas Macknight, published in 1854, one by 
Mr. T. P. O'Connor, published in 1878, and one, by 
much the best, by Mr. A. C. Ewald, published in 1883. 
Beside these, a very clever and appreciative study of 
Mr. Disraeli, by Mr. George Henry Francis, was re- 
published in 1852 from Frasers Magazine^ while the 
public life of Lord Beaconsfield has been brought out 
more recently by Mr. Hitchman. A German study of 
L.ord Beaconsfield by G. Brandes, of which a translation 
was published by Mr. Bentley in 1880, is, I believe, 
worth reading, and I am sorry that my attention was 
not called to it till it was too late to consult it for the 
purpose of the present volume. Of course, of the 
various pamphlets, memoirs, and quasi-biographical 
notices of Lord Beaconsfield which have appeared 
during the last forty years the name is legion, and to 
give anything like a complete list of them on the pre- 
sent occasion would be impossible. The obituary 
notices of him which appeared in the principal daily 
papers contain much interesting matter, and the 
Standard notice was republished by Messrs. Macmillan 
in a small octavo volume. From the numerous 
volumes of political memoirs, diaries, and correspon- 
dence, of which the last few years have been so fertile, 
abundant particulars relating to both the public and 
private life of Lord Beaconsfield are to be collected, 
especially from the Greville Journals, the Memoirs of 
an Ex'Mi?iistery by Lord Malmesbury, St. Petersburg 
and London^ by Count Vitzthum, the CroJcer Papers^ 
and the Lives of Lord Palmerston, Lord Melbourne, 



FBEFATORY NOTE, xi 

Lord Lyndhnrst, Bishop Wilberforoe, and Mr. Herries, 
which have all appeared within tlie last twenty years. 

The first complete edition of Lord Beaconsfield's 
works down to that date, was published in 1853. An- 
other, in ten volumes, appeared in 1857 ; and a second 
impression of it in 1870. The Hughenden edition of 
his tales and novels was published in 1881. A very 
useful and well-executed edition of the Letters of Run- 
nymede, the Vindic itioii of the British Constitutiony 
and the Spirit of Wldggism^ has also been published 
by Mr. Hitchman. And two volumes of speeches, 
edited by myself, with explanatory prefaces attached, 
■were issued by Messrs. Longmans in 1881. 

T* L. K. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PR^-PARLIAMENTARY PERIOD. 

1804-1837. 
Birth and boyhood — First appearance in print — Vivian Grey — Travels 
on the Continent — Letters to Sarah DisraeH — Entrance into 
Society — Literary and poHtical activity — Attempts to get into 
Parliament — Popular Toryism — The Crisis J£xamined — Quarrel 
with O'Connell — Disraeli's vindication of his public conduct — 
Relations with Hume — Disraeli and Lyndhurst — Elected for 
Maidstone • # p. 1 



OHAirTER II. 

THE GREAT CONSERVATIVE PARTY. 
1837-1843. 
State o Parties in 1837 — Disraeli's maiden speech — Evidence as to 
its merits — Position in the House — The Bedchamber plot — The 
Chartist Petition — Disraeli's marriage — Change in his circum- 
stances — Dissolution of 1841 — Disraeli returned for Shrewsbury 
— Exposition of his views on Protection . . • , p. 20 



CHAPTER III. 

YOUNG ENGLAND. 
1843. 
Young England Toryism and Conservatism — Disraeli's position — 
Breach Avith Peel — Coningshy — The Young England creed — 
Didactic elements in Coningshy — Its portraits and types — Toiir in 
the manufacturing districts — Sybil — Theme of the novel — Dis- 
raeli's political ideal — Young England and the Anglican revival. 
p. 84 



xiv CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IV. 

BIR BOBEET PEEL AND FREE TIIA.DE. 

1845-52. 
First direct attack on Peel — The Post Office scandal — Debate on 
agricultural distress — Tour on the Continent — Disraeli's econo- 
mical policy — Fall of Peel's administration — Visit to Bel voir 
Castle — Disraeli leader of the Opposition — Reconstruction of the 
Conservative party — Speech on the Bui'dens upon Land — Success 
of Disraeli's tactics — Social incidents — The Life of Lord George 
J3entinck — The first Derby ministry — Bitterness of the Opposition 
— Successes of the Government — The London Press — Result of 
the general election — The Budget — Defeat of the Government. 

p. 69 



CHAPTER V. 

MU. DISRAELI AND LORD DERBY. 

1852-1868. 

The Press newspaper — Funeral oration over the Duke of Wellington 
— Divisions in the Cabinet — Mr. Disraeli's irony at its expense — 
Refusal of Lord Derby to take office — Tactics of the Conser- 
vative party in Opposition — The China debate — Defeat of the 
Palmerston Government — The second Derby Administration — 
The Ellenborough despatch — The Reform Bill — Resignation of 
Ministers — The Conservatives in Opposition — Earl Russell's 
foreign policy — Church and Queen — Mr. Disraeli's financial 
speeches — The career and defeat of Eaid Russell's Government — 
The Reform Bills — Mr. Disraeli leader of the party » p. 86 



CHAPTER VI. 

MR. DISRAELI AS 1;EADER OF THE PARTS". 

1868-1881. 

Mr, Gladstone's Irish Resolutions — Mr. Disraeli's speech on the Abys- 
Binian war — General Election of 1868 — Mi*. Disraeli's speeches in 
Opposition — Death of Lady Beaconsfiold — Refusal to take office 



CONTENTS. XV 

in 1873 — Mr. Disraeli Lord Rector of the Univeraity of Glasgow 
— The Conservative reaction — Mr. Disraeli and the masses — The 
Cabinet of 1874 — The Public Worship Regulation Bill — Sanitas 
sanitatum — Social legislation — Educational measures — Ecclesias- 
tical questions — The Royal Titles Act — Mr. Disraeli becomes 
Lord Beaconsfield — Foreign policy of his Administration — The 
Eastern Question — The Bulgarian Atrocities — The March Pro- 
tocol — Declaration of War by Russia — The treaty of San Stephano 
and its consequences — The Treaty of BerHn — Its results — The 
The Anglo-Turkish Convention— Peace with Honour — The Aff- 
ghan war — Unpopularity of the Government — The General 
Election of 1880 — Lord Beaconsfield's last appearances in Parlia- 
ment — His illness and death — Grief of the nation — The funeral 
at Hughenden — Visit of the Queen — The Primrose League — 
Tributes to Lord Beaconsfield's memory . . . • P« H^ 



CHAPTER VII. 

STATESMAN AND ORATOR. 

Estimates of Lord Beaconsfield's statesmanship — His foreign policy — 
His domestic policy — Theory of popular government — One 
opinion of the duties of Conservatism — Lord Beaconsfield's 
opinion — Changes in his views — Distrust of the middle class — 
Our territorial constitution— The Irish question — Lord Beacons- 
field's ecclesiastical views — The monarchical revival — Idealism 
of Lord Beaconsfield^ — Increased power of the minister — Lord 
Beaconsfield's position as an orator — Specimens of his eloquence 
— His use of rhetoric — His vein of irony — Fajious sarcasms. 

p. IGl 



CHAPTER VIII. 

tORD BEACONSFIELD AS A MAN OP LETTERS. 

Lord Beaconsfield's works — His earlier novels — Plots of Coningsby 
and Sybil — Tancred, Lothair, and Endymion — Three prose bur- 
lesques — Political writings — Lord Beaconsfield's style. p. 188 



xvi CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IX. 

CONCLUSION. 

His Public and Private Character — Not an Adventurer — Devotion 
to Politics — Love of Nature, and of Animals, and of Children — 
Stories of his early Eccentricities — Life at Hughenden — Popu- 
larity in the Neighbourhood — His Scholarship — His Library — 
Lady John Manners's Reminiscences • , . p. 206 



LIFE OP 

LOED BEACONSFIELD. 



CHAPTER L 

PE^-PAELTAMENTARY PEEIOD. 
1804-1837. 

Birth and boyhood — First appearance in print — Vivian Grey — Travels 
on the Continent — Letters to Sarah DisraeH — Entrance into 
Society — Literary and political activity — Attempts to get into 
Parliament — Popular Toryism — The Crisis Examined — Quarrel 
"with O'Connell — Disraeli's vindication of his public conduct — Rela- 
tions with Hume — Disraeli and Lyndhurst — Elected for Maidstone 

Benjamin Disraeli was born in London on the 21st 
of December, either in the year 1804 or 1803, the son of 
Isaac Disraeli, author of the Curiosities of Literature^ 
and Maria Basevi, sister of the well-known architect; 
but whether he first saw the light in Bloomsbury Square, 
in the Adelphi, or in King's Road, Gray's Inn, is still 
uncertain. It is proved by the Parish Kate Book that 
at the date of his eldest son's birth Isaac Disraeli was 
tenant of a house in the last-mentioned street. But 
against this is to be set the direct statement made by 

1 



2 TjIfe of lord beaconsfield. 

Lord Beaconsfield himself to Lord Barrington, that he 
was born '* in a set of chambers in the Adelphi "; and 
likewise the testimony of Mr. Jones, son of the medical 
man who attended Mrs. Disraeli at the time. In favour 
of Bloomsbury Square, besides the local tradition, we 
have merely the statement that wlien Lord Beaconsfield 
was asked if he was born there, he said that he had been 
told so. The best extant account of his own family is 
contained in his Preface to an edition of the Curiosities 
published in 1849, from which we learn that his ancestors, 
who belonged to the Sephardim, or purest branch of the 
Jewish race, which never left the shores of the Medi- 
terranean, were driven out of Spain by the Inquisition, 
and settled in Venice at the end of the fifteenth cen- 
tury. His grandfather came to England in 1748, at 
the age of eighteen, where he acquired a moderate for- 
tune, and died at Enfield in 1817 at the age of ninety. 
Isaac was born in 1766, and died in 1848 at Braden- 
ham in Buckinghamshire, where he had resided for 
more than twenty years. The future statesman was one 
of four children, three sons and a daughter, one of 
whom alone, Mr. Balph Disraeli, is now living. Of the 
other brother, I am not aware that anything is known, 
beyond the circle of his own family ; but the sister, 
Sarah Disraeli, has lately been introduced to us in a 
series of very interesting letters, to which reference will 
frequently be made in this narrative. Benjamin, who 
was baptized at St. Andrew's, Holborn, July 31, 1817, 
was educated at a school kept by the Rev. John Pot- 
ticarey at Blackheath, where he was popular with his 
schoolfellows, who usually called him "Jack." His 
favourite game was *' playing at horses," which is so far 
curious that in after life he took no interest whatever 
in horses or anything relating to them. At the age 



PEJE-PARLIAMENTABY PERIOD. 3 

of seventeen he was articled to Messrs. Swain and 
Stevenson, solicitors in the Old Jewry, where he gave 
such promise of excellence, that his master recom- 
mended his father to send him to the bar. Of this 
period of his life no anecdotes have been preserved ; 
but, born in a library, as he used to say of himself, 
he was not long in putting his literary powers to the 
test. 

It is commonly said that his first appearance in print 
was in the Representative newspaper, brought out by 
Mr. Murray in January 1826 ; but Mr. Disraeli himself 
denied that he had any connection with it. A share in 
the Star Chamber, a paper which appeared every Wed- 
nesday, between the 19th of April and the 7th oi June 
in the same year, has also been attributed to Mr. Dis- 
raeli, who is said to have written in it a poem, called 
the "Modern Dunciad," in imitation of Pope. But as 
the poem is extremely poor, and as Vivia?i Grey, which 
was published only two days before the appearance of 
the Star Chamber, is described in it as the work of one 
who "is not a very young man," his connection with this 
short-lived periodical must still remain a doubtful point. 
Vivian Greij was published on the 17th or 18th of 
April 1826, and established his reputation at a single 
stroke. But whether the ignorance of its author professed 
by the writer in the Star Chamber was real or assumed, 
we have no means of ascertaining. 

Satisfied for the time with the sensation which he 
had created, Mr. Disraeli seems to have spent the next 
two years in rambling through Italy, Switzerland, and 
parts of Greece. But the Young Duke was written 
before the passage of the Eoman Catholic Emancipation 
Bill in 1829, and in July 1830 we find Disraeli, who 
was then at Malta, writing to his sister to send a copy 

1 * 



4 LIFE OF LOED BFJACONSFIELD, 

of the book to Lady Don, the wife of the Governor of 
Gibraltar, which place Disraeli had just quitted. 

He had started from England a second time on 
the 1st of June 1830, and it was now that he began 
the correspondence with his sister which has just been 
mentioned, extending to May 1831, within which 
space of time he visited the south of Spain, Greece, 
Albania, Constantinople, the Holy Land, and Egypt. 
The companions of his journey were James Clay and 
William Meredith, of whom- the former lived to be 
Liberal Member for Hull, and a well-known personage 
both in Parliament and society; the latter, a young man 
of the highest promise, and engaged to Mr. Disraeli's 
sister, died at Cairo, on his way back to England, in 
1831. The friends, however, did not always keep to- 
gether, and during the greater part of the time Disraeli 
seems to have been alone. His letters are always 
piquant, full of that sprightly and playful egotism, 
half real and half affected, v/hich was peculiar to him- 
self. He occasionally appears as the hero of rollick- 
ing adventures, and indulging in a strain of jocularity 
dithcult to reconcile with the calm and somewhat 
scornful repose which was the habitual expression of his 
features in more advanced years. But we prefer to quote 
his account of peaceful life and society at Granada : — 

After dinner you take your siesta. I generally sleep for two hours. 
I think this practice conducire to health. Old people, however, are 
apt to carry it to excess. By the time I have risen and arranged my 
toilette it is time to steal out, and call upon any agreeable family 
■whose Tertullia you may choose to honour, which ycu do, after the 
first time, uninvited, and with them you take your tea or chocolate. 
This is often al-fresco, under the piazza or colonnade of the patio. 
Here you while away the time until it is cool enough for the alameda 
or public walk. At Cadiz, and even at Seville up the Guadalquivir, 
you are sure of a delightful breeze from the water. The sea-breeze 
comes hke a spirit The effect is quite magical. As you are lolling 



PEJE-FAELIAMENTAUY PERIOD. 5 

in listless languor in the hot and perfumed air, an invisible guest 
comes dancing into the party and touches them all with an enchanted 
wand. All start, all smile. It has come ; it is the sea-breeze. There 
is much discussion whether it is as strong, or wiiether weaker than 
the night before. The ladies furl their fans and seize their mantillas, 
the cavaliers stretch their legs and give signs of life. All rise. I 
offer my arm to Dolores or Florentina (is not this familiarity 
strange?), and in ten minutes you are in the alameda. What a 
change I All is now life and liveliness. Such bowing, such kissing, 
such fluttering of fans, such gentle criticism of gentle friends 1 but 
the fan is the most wonderful part of the whole scene. A Spanish 
lady with her fan might shame the tactics of a troop of horse. Now 
she unfurls it with the slow pomp and conscious elegance of a peacock. 
Now she flutters it with all the languor of a listless beauty, now 
with all the liveliness of a vivacious one. Now, in the midst of a 
very tornado, she closes it with a whir which makes jon start, pop I 
In the midst of your confusion Dolores taps you on the elbow. You 
turn round to listen, and Florentina pokes you in your side. Magical 
instrument ! You know that it speaks a particular language, and 
gallantry requires no other mode to express its most subtle conceits 
or its most unreasonable demands than this slight, delicate organ 
But remember, while you read, that here, as in England, it is not con- 
fined alone to your delightful sex. I also have my fan, which makes 
my cane extremely jealous. If you think I have grown extraordinarily 
efl'eminate, learn that in this scorching clime the soldier will not 
mount guard without one. Night wears on, we sit, we take a panal, 
which is as quick work as snapdragon, and far more elegant ; again 
we stroll. Midnight clea:rs the public walks, and but few Spanish 
families retire till two. A solitary bachelor like myself still wanders, 
or still lounges on a bench in the warm moonlight. The last guitar 
dies aAvay, the cathedral clock wakes up your reverie, you too seek 
your couch, and amid a gentle, sweet flow of loveliness, and light, 
and music, and fresh air, thus dies a day in Spain. 

Disraeli as well as Pope could make the same ideas 
serve his purpose twice, as the above description figures 
again in Contarini Fleming, 

The last letter of this series is dated from Cairo, May 
28th, 1831, giving an account of a voyage up the Nile 
as far as Nubia, and the next we hear of him is from 
his lodgings in Duke Street, St. James', February 18th, 
1832. 



6 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIFLD. 

Disraeli was now about to make his entry into 
London society, and there is no reason to distrust his 
own account of the reception which he met with. The 
second series of letters to his sister, extending from 
1832 to 1852, is our chief authority on this point, and 
they clearly show that he miugled with people of the 
highest rank at as early an age as most men who are 
not born in the purple. His father's reputation and 
his own, combined with the fact that he had travelled 
in countries then but little known to Englishmen, were 
sufficient at once to secure him an introduction to that 
border land in which literature and fashion meet; and 
having secured his footing so far, he did the rest for 
himself. In 1833 he dines with Lord and Lady St. 
Maur. In the following year Lady Tankerville, who 
shared with Lady Jersey the leadership of the fashion- 
able world, admits him to Almack's. He is intimate 
with Lady Chesterfield and Lady Londonderry. In 
1836, before he was a Member of Parliament, he was 
elected at the Carlton, and, in fact, there is over- 
whelming evidence to show that the critics who sneered 
at his portraits of lords and ladies in Coningshy and 
Stjhi/, as being drawn exclusively from his own imagi- 
nation, only showed their own ignorance of that great 
world which had long before thrown open its doors to 
him. 

Disraeli, however, makes no secret of his position. 
So far from disguising the fact that he has won his own 
way into the charmed circle, instead of having taken his 
place in it from the first as his natural and proper 
sphere, the language in which he writes of his social 
successes proclaim it with almost boyish exultation. 
He writes like a youthful conqueror, marching from 
victory to victory, and every fresh card of invitation is 



FBJE-PABLIAMENTAnY PERIOD. 7 

a fresh certificate of bis prowess. Of the style in which 
he boasts of the attention that was paid to him by the 
great, had it been intended for any other eyes than 
those of the little circle at Bradeiiham, the good taste 
might perhaps be called in question. But the letters were 
written to a sister; and much that might otherwise be 
set down to intoxicated vanity, may fairly be attributed 
to the desire to amuse, and possibly to divert her mind 
from brooding over recent troubles. 

It was soon after his plunge into the world of fashion 
that he first met, at Lytton Bulwer's, in April 1832, his 
future wife, Mrs. Wyndham Lewis, whom he describes 
as ** a pretty little woman, a flirt, and a rattle ; indeed, 
gifted with a volubility I should think unequalled, and 
of which I can convey no idea. She told me she liked 
* silent, melancholy men.' I observed that I had no 
doubt of it." It was about this time, also, that he met 
Lord Melbourne at Mrs. Norton's, and when Melbourne 
enquired how he could serve him, replied that he desired 
to be Prime Minister. It is quite clear that he had 
already made his mark in society, and was a familiar 
figure in some of the best London drawing-rooms several 
years before he entered Parliament. 

The five years which lie between 1832, when Disraeli 
returned to England, and 1837, when he became mem- 
ber of the House of Commons, present a tangled skein 
to the biographer. They are the five years of his 
greatest literary industry, and they are also five years of 
incessant political activity, during which it must often 
have seemed doubtful to himself whether politics or 
letters were to be his ultimate passport to immortality. 
Novels, essays and poems, speeches, addresses, and 
personal controversies pour upon us in such quick 
succession, and so frequently solicit our attention at the 



8 LIFE OF LORD BFACONSFIFLD. 

same moment, that it is perhaps better to keep the two 
threads distinct, and reserve all notice* of the purely 
literary works which he published during this period till 
we come to consider his literary position by itself. Our 
gpace will thus be left clear for the continuous treatment 
of his public life during its most complicated and ambi- 
guous stage, of which, however, it is absolutely necessary 
that we should form some clear idea, if we would either 
comprehend or do justice to the principles by which his 
subsequent career was regulated. 

On the 22nd of February 1832, Disraeli writes to his 
sister : " I think peers will be created, and Charles 
Gore has promised to let me have timely notice if 
Baring be one,'^ Mr, Thomas Baring was then the 
member for High Wycombe, the seat on which Disraeli 
nad his eye, and when, a few months afterwards, the 
expected peerage was conferred upon him, the young 
aspirant issued his address. His opponent was Colonel 
Grey, the son of the Prime Minister; and Disraeli, 
whose home was now at Bradenliam, only a few miles 
from Wycombe, came forward as the local candidate. 
Disraeli, who, at this time, declared his sole principle of 
action to be opposition to the Whigs, considered himself 
justified in accepting assistance from all who agreed 
with him on this point, whatever their opinion on other 
matters. Lytton Bulwer, at that time his great friend, 
and a strong Radical, applied to Daniel O'Connell and 
Mr. Hume to know whether they had any interest in 
the constituency. They replied that they had none, 
but in terms sufficiently complimentary to induce Mr. 
Disraeli's committee to print their letters. But Mr. 
Disraeli was neither a Radical nor a Home Ruler. 
He had told O'Connell that he could not listen to the 
Repeal of the Union ; and on this question there could 



PE^-PABLIAMENTABY PEEIOD. 9 

be no doubt. Whetber be bad been equally explicit witb 
Josepb Hume remains uncertain. Hume bimself may 
naturally have supposed that the advocate of the Ballot 
and Triennial Parliaments was a Eadical all round. 
But Disraeli said nothing to confirm this opinion in his 
speeches or addresses. He declared himself even then 
a staunch supporter of the Established Church, the 
House of Lords, and our territorial constitution; and, 
a>j we shall see, he did not get the Radical vote a second 
time. 

He bad, in fact, fashioned out a creed for bimself, 
which he never appears to have renounced. He tried 
to fit the Toryism of 1730 to the circumstances of 1832; 
but notwithstanding some points of resemblance which 
are more than superficial, there are fundamental points of 
difference between the two periods which rob all his ana- 
logies, however interesting and original, of that element 
of actuality which is necessary to give them any locus 
standi in the domain of practical politics. In each case 
a revolution had been effected by the Whigs, of which 
the real and the ostensible motives were not the same. 
In each case it seemed that a great party triumph had 
been won from which the people were to gain but little,"^ 
and on each occasion there may have appeared to be 
some real danger lest the balance of power should 
be destroyed. But the change of dynasty in 1688 was 
a patrician revolution. The Reform Bill of 1832 was a 
popular revolution. The Whigs may have turned it to 
their own account. But the impulse came from below. 
And when Mr. Disraeli raised the banner of popular 
Toryism, recent events were too fresh in men's minds to 
make it seem otherwise than fantastic. Down to the 

• Mr. Gladstone's Gleanings of Past Years^ vol. i.p. 148. 



10 LIFE OF LOBD BEACONSFIELD, 

end of the war the Tories uiidoubtedly had been the 
popular party as well as the monarchical party. Even 
after that time their administration has been much mis- 
represented. But their resistance to the Eeform Bill 
was a fact which nobody could get over. Appeals to 
Bolingbroke and Wyndbam fell flat on men's ears who 
saw the Duke of Wellington and Lord Lyndhurst, and 
Sir Robert Peel and Mr. Croker walking about the 
streets of London, and even then perhaps engaged in 
some plot against " the people's rights." The revival 
was premature. A few years later, when the air began 
to clear, and the passions of 1832 to lose their bitter- 
ness, the elements of truth which Mr. Disraeli's theory 
contained, had a better chance of being appreciated; and 
Young England ideas made a place for themselves in our 
political system. But when the author of them first 
stood for High Wycombe they were totally unintelligible. 

It may be doubted, however, whether they did not 
serve Mr. Disraeli's purpose just as well as if they had 
been more generally comprehended. He could not 
have carried the seat whatever he had said ; and his 
political opinions had the great merit of originality. If 
tliey did not win him the suffrages of Wycombe, they 
secured for him the friendship of Lord Lyndhurst, 
and enlisted the admiration of even Sir Robert Peel, 
who, on reading the Vmdication of the British Con- 
siitution, in December 1836, said that he was gratified 
and surprised to find that a familiar and apparently 
exhausted topic could be treated with so much of original 
force of argument and novelty of illustration. 

It was at the general election in November 1832, 
when Mr. Disraeli again stood for Wycombe, that he 
explained more clearly what he meant by popular 
Toryism, and denied its aO&nity to Radicalism. But 



PByE-PABLTAMUNTABY PERIOD. 11 

he had lost the confidence of the Kadicalsj and was of 
course defeated. In 1833 he consented to stand for 
Marylebone, but, the expected vacancy not occurring, 
he was delivered from the embarrassing position in 
which the contest certainly would have placed him. A 
story was current at the time, that being asked by a 
Marylebone elector on what he intended to stand, he 
repHed, '* upon his head." But he himself seems to 
have treated it as an invention of the newspapers. 
With 1834 came the famous crisis which he has depicted 
with such vivacity in Coninr/shi/, and which, oddly 
enough, from a letter to his sister of June 4th, he himself 
seems to have foreseen. " My own opinion is that in 
the recess the King will make an effort to try and form 
a Conservative Government with Peel and Stanley." 
This is exactly what occurred when the death of Lord 
Spencer raised Lord Althorp to the Lords, and deprived 
the House of Commons of its leader : and when it 
became obvious that a dissolution must take place, he 
for a third time issued an address to the electors of the 
little Buckinghamshire borough. He had no better suc- 
cess than before, but his speech of December 16th was 
republished under the title of the Crisis Examined, 
and is worth reading, if only for the very characteristic 
observations to be found in it on the duties and position 
of a statesman. 



The people [he says] were content to accept the Reform Bill 
as a great remedial measure which they had often demanded, 
and which had been often denied, and they did not choose to scan too 
severely the previous conduct of those who conceded it to them. 
They did not go about saying, " We must have reform, but we will 
not have it from Lord Palmerston, because he is the child of corrup- 
tion, born of DoAvning Street, and engendered in the Treasury, a 
second-rate official for twenty years under a succession of Tory 
Governments, but a Secretary of State under the Whigs." Not they, 



12 LIFE OF LORD BEAGONSFIELD. 

indeed 1 The people returned Lord Palmerston in triumph for Hamp- 
shire, and pennies were subscribed to present him with testimonials 
of popular applause. The people then took reform as some other 
people take stolen goods, " and no questions asked." The Cabinet of 
Lord Grey was not ungenerously twitted with the abandonment of 
princij)les which the country had given up, and to which no man 
could adhere who entertained the slightest hope of rendering him- 
self an effective public servant. The truth is, gentlemen, a states- 
man is the creature of his age, the child of circumstances, the 
creation of his times. A statesman is essentially a practical cha- 
racter ; and when he is called upon to take office, he is not to inquire 
what his opinions might or might not have been upon this or that 
subject ; he is only to ascertain the needful and the beneficial, and 
the most feasible measures are to be carried on. The fact is, the 
conduct and the opinions of public men at different periods of their 
career must not be too curiously contrasted in a free and aspiring 
countty. The people have their passions, and it is even the dtity 
of public men occasionally to adopt sentiments with which they do 
not S3'mpathise, because the people must have leaders. Then the 
opinions and prejudices of the Crown must necessarily influence a 
rising statesman. I say nothing of the weight which great establish- 
ments and corporations, and the necessity of their support and 
patronage, must also possess with an ambitious politician. All this, 
however, produces ultimate benefit ; all these influences tend to form 
that eminently practical character for which our countrymen are 
celebrated. I laugh, therefore, at the objection against a man, that 
at a former period of his career he advocated a policy different to his 
present one. All I seek to ascertain is whether his present policy be 
just, necessary, expedient; whether at the present moment he is 
prepared to serve the country according to its present necessities. 

The dissolution of Parliament in January 1835 did 
not give Sir Kobert^ Peel an absolute majority, and in 
the following April he resigned office, and made way 
for the return of Lord Melbourne. Mr. Labouchere, 
the new Master of the Mint, on seeking re-election at 
Taunton, was opposed by Mr. Disraeli, who in the 
course of his canvass, gave that provocation to 
O'Connell which the ngitator never forgave. In a 
speech, of which no report has been preserved, Mr. 
Disraeli said that the Whigs had "grasped the bloody 



FEJE-FAULIAMENTAEY PERIOD. 13 

hand of O'Connell." The meaning: of this was that the 
Wliigs, who had themselves accused O'Connell of 
treasonable and rebellious practices, had now stooped to 
solicit his assistance. The attack was upon the Whigs, 
not upon O'Connell ; but when the words found their 
way into a London paper, the latter chose to accept it 
as a personal offence, and, in a speech made soon after- 
wards at Dublin, stigmatised Disraeli as the descendant 
of the impenitent thief. Mr. O'Connell having killed 
a man in a duel,^ had declared that nothing hence- 
forth should induce him to fight another. But Mr. 
Morgan O'Connell, who, in the previous May, had 
acted as his father's representative in a duel with Lord 
Alvanley, whom O'Connell had called a *' bloated 
buffoon," was at once challenged by Mr. Disraeli in a 
letter dated from Park Street, Grosvenor Square, May 
6th, 1835. The son declined to fight in the father's 
quarrel a second time, and so far Disraeli came oat 
of the affiir with flying colours. But in the news- 
paper controversy which followed he does not show 
to equal advantage. The whole story of his con- 
nection with Hume and O'Connell in 1832 was, of 
course, raked up against him, combined with taunts and 
insinuations which evidently stung him to the quick; 
and in his retorts upon the editor of the Globe, who 
■was the chief offender, he loses his temper, and in- 
dulges in a species of vituperation, of which we may at 
least say what he said of one of his own assailants many 
yeais afterwards, that *' it wants finish." 

All Disraeli's letters on this subject appeared in the 
Timesy and though the personal abuse contained in them 



* Mr. Esterre, a member of the Dublin Corporation, who challenged 
O'Comiell for calling the corporation " beggarly." 



14 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 

borders upon Billingsgate, still, in one letter, of the 
Slst of December 1835, is to be read the best vindication 
of the writer's public conduct down to that date, which 
is anywhere to be found. My readers will, perhaps, 
thank me for the following brilliant specimen of it, 
in which he anticipates Coningshy, 



i was absent from England during the discussions on the Reform 
Bill. The Bill was virtually, though not formally, passed when I 
returned to my country in the spring of 1832. Far from that scene 
of discord and dissension, unconnected with its parties, and untouched 
by its passions, viewing as a whole what all had witnessed only in the 
fiery passage of its intense and alarming details, events have proved, 
with all humility be it spoken, that the opinion I formed of that mea- 
sure on my arrival was more correct than the one commonly adopted. 
I found the nation in terror of a rampant democracy. I saw only an 
impending oligarchy. I found the House of Commons packed, and the 
independence of the House of Lords annotmced as terminated. I re- 
cognised a repetition of the same oligarchical foi</j d^etat from, which we 
had escaped by a miracle little more than a century before ; therefore 
I determined to the utmost of my power ta oppose the Whigs. Why 
then, it may be asked, did I not join the Tories? Because I found the 
Tories in a state of ignorant stupefaction. The Whigs had assured 
them that they were annihilated, and they believed them. They had 
not a single definite or intelligible idea as to their position or their 
duties or the character of their party. They were haunted with a 
nervous apprehension of that great bugbear " the people," that be- 
wildering title under which a miserable minority contrives to coerce 
and plunder a nation. They were ignorant that the millions of that 
nation required to be gtiided and encoviraged, and that they were 
that nation's natui'al leaders, bound to marshal and to enlighten them. 
The Tories trembled at a coming anarchy : what they had to appre- 
hend was a rigid tyranny. They fancied themselves on the eve of a 
reign of terror, when they were about to sink under the sovereignty 
of a Council of Ten. Even that illustrious man, who, after con- 
quering the Peninsula, ought to deem nothing imi^ossible, announced 
that the King's Government could not be carried on. The Tories in 
1832 were avowedly no longer a practical party ; they had no system 
and no object ; they were passive and forlorn. They took their seats 
in the House of Commons after the Reform Act as the Senate in the 
Forum when the city was entered by the Gauls, only to die. 



PBjE-PABLIAMENTABY PUEIOD. 16 

He then goes on to say : — 

I challenge anyone to quote any speech I have ever made, or one 
line I have ever written, hostile to the institutions of the country. 
On the contrary, I have never omitted any opportunity of showing 
that on the maintenance of those institutions the liberties of the nation 
depended ; that if the Crown, the Church, the House of Lords, the 
Corporations, the Magistracy, the Poor Laws, were successfully 
attacked, we should fall, as once before we nearly fell, tmder a grinding 
oligarchy, and inevitably be governed by a metropolis. It is true that 
I avowed myself the supporter of triennial Parliaments, and for the 
same reasons as Sir William Wyndham, the leader of the Tories 
against Walpole, because the House of Commons had just been recon- 
structed for factious purposes by the Reform Act, as in the days of 
the Septennial Bill : I thought with Sir William Wyndham, whose 
speech I quoted to the electors, that the Yv'^hig power could only be 
shaken by frequent elections. Well, has the result proved the shal- 
lowness of my views ? What has shaken the power of the Whigs to 
tbe centre ? The general election of this year. What will destroy the 
power of the Whigs ? The general election of the next. It is true 
that I avowed myself a supporter of the principle of the ballot, bir 
William Wyndham did not do this, because in his time the idea was 
not in existence, but he would, I warrant it, have been as hearty a 
supporter of the ballot as myself, if with his principles he had been 
standing on the hustings in the j^ear of our Lord 1832, with the third 
estate of the realm reconstructed for factious purposes by the Whigs, 
the gentlemen of England excluded from their own chamber, a 
number cf paltry little towns enfranchised with the privilege of 
returning as many members to Pai'liament as the shires of this day, 
and the nomination of these members placed in a small knot of hard- 
hearted sectarian rulers, opposed to everything noble and rational, and 
exercising an usurious influence over the petty tradesmen who are 
their slaves and their victims. 

** More than three years after this," he continues — 

cam© my contest at Taunton against the Master of the Mint, to which 
tbe editor of the Globe has alluded. I came forward on that occasion 
on precisely the same principles on which I had offered myself at 
Wycombe ; but my situation was different. I was no longer an 
independent and isolated member of the political world. I had felt 
it my duty to become an earnest partisan. The Torj'- party had in 
this interval roused itself from its lethargy ; it had profited by ad- 
versity ; it had regained not a little of its original character and 



16 LIFE OF LORD BEAGONSFIELD, 

primary spirit; it had begun to remember, or to discover, that it was 
the national party of the country ; it recognised its duty to place 
itself at the head of the nation ; it professed the patriotic principles 
of Sir William Wyndham and Lord Bolingbroke, in whose writings I 
have ever recognised the most pure and the profoundest sources of 
political and constitutional wisdom; underthe guidance of an eloquent 
and able leader, the principles of primitive Toryism had again de- 
veloped themselves and the obsolete associations which form no 
essential portion of that great patriotic scheme had been ably and 
effectively discarded. In the great struggle I joined the party with 
whom I sympathised, and continued to oppose the faction to which 
had ever been adverse. But I did not avow my intention of no longer 
supporting the questions of short Parliaments and the Ballot, merely 
because the party to which I had attached myself was unfavourable 
to those measures, though that, in my opinion as to the discipline of 
political questions, would have been a sufficient reason. I ceased to 
advocate them because they had ceased to be necessary. The pur- 
poses for which thej'- had been proposed were obtained. The poAver 
of the Whigs was reduced to a wholesome measure ; the balance of 
parties in the State was restored ; the independence of the House 
of Lords preserved. Perpetual change in the political arrangements of 
countries of such a complicated civilization as England is so great an 
evil, that nothing but a clear necessity can justify a recourse to it. 

In the second of these extracts peeps out Disraeli's 
favourite theory, that one object of the Eeform Bill 
was to destroy the legitimate influence of the country 
gentlemen.^ But hefore concluding this passage of his 
life, it remains to notice what passed between himself 
and his critics on the subject of his relations with 
Mr. Hume. It amounts to no more than this — that 
Mr. Hume very naturally did not understand the 
new Toryism which Mr. Disraeli had adopted, and 
supposed that everyone who supported "the changes 
which he advocated himself, did so with the same 
object. He could make no approach to the point of 
view from which the Ballot and Triennial Parliaments 

* Vide Vindication of British Constitution and Spirit of Whiggism, 
passim. 



TBJE-PARLIAMENTABY PERIOD. 17 

seemed favourable to Toryism, and, excusably, there- 
fore, when Mr. Disraeli announced himself a Tory, 
thought he had been deceived. Mr. Hume's memory 
played him false in some particulars, as, for instance, 
in supposing that he had an interview with Mr. Dis- 
raeli in Bryanston Square in 1833, when the latter 
made a personal declaration of his principles. Mr, 
Disraeli called duiing his canvass for Marylebone, 
but only saw Mr. Hume's private secretary, that gen- 
tleman himself being confined to his bed. But these 
details are of little consequence. The general conclu- 
clusion is that Mr. Disraeli was mistaken by the Radi- 
cals for one of themselves, because they did not know 
that what was a Radical measure in 1832 had been a 
Tory one in 1734, and that it was possible to be in 
favour of the ballot without being an enemy to the 
Constitution. That Mr. Disraeli took advantage of 
their ignorance is, perhaps, the worst that can be said 
of him. But we gladly turn from what is, after all, 
but an ambiguous phase in his career, to the days, now 
rajDidly approaching, when he should appear in his 
true colours, as the preacher of a new creed and 
the founder of a new party. 

His correspondence at this time is full of Lord 
Lyndhurst, whom he regarded as his political chief, 
and who seems to have been the only man of nny note 
who really tried to understand what he meant. Lynd- 
hurst occasionally went down to Bradenham, and seems 
to have enjoyed a ramble among the Chilterns with 
his eccentric young irrotefje^ who probably told the 
older man a good deal that he did not know before. 
The two had much in common. Both were daring to 
the verge of recklessness, cool, and self-reliant — • 
"pleased with the danger when the svaves ran high." 

2 



18 LIFE OF LORD BFAGONSFIELD. 

Both came to the consideration of English politics with 
comparatively open nnnds, and both had arrived at con- 
clusions eminently unfavourable to the Whigs. 

The year 1836 passed away, Henrietta Temple had 
been out some time, and Venetia was just finished, 
when it was announced that William IV. was suffering 
one of his customary attacks of hay fever. Those who 
were behind the scenes knew better, and began to pre- 
pare for a Dissolution. After lingering, the centre of 
hopes and fears, for some weeks, William IV. expired 
early in the morning of the 20th of June 1837. Parlia- 
ment was dissolved on the 18th of July, and Mr. Disraeli 
was returned for Maidstone in company with Mr, Wynd- 
ham Lewis, on the 27th. Mr. Lewis polled 707 votes, 
Disraeli 616, and Colonel Thompson, the Liberal can- 
didate, 412. Disraeli had now got his foot in the 
stirrup, and his boast of 1833 was to be put to the test, 
" Heard Macaulay's best speech, Shiel, and Charles 
Grant. Macaulay admirable ; but, between ourselves, I 
could floor them all. This entre noun, I never was 
more certain of anything than that I could carry every- 
thing before me in that House.''* His chance had now 
come to him ; as, according to himself, it comes to 
every man, if he can only wait. He was to take his 
seat among the men whom the country looked up to as 
its leaders, and measure himself against them ; and it 
cannot be denied that his wonderful self-confidence was 
justified. In writing of Addison, Thackeray says, 
* You could hardly show him an essay, a sermon, or a 
poem, but he felt he could do it better." And, sitting 
in judgment on Disraeli's overweening self-esteem, we 
must make allowance for that consciousness of genius 

* Letter to his sister, Feb. 7, 1833. 



PBJE-PAULIAMENTAItY PERIOD, 19 

which told him of his own superiority, and " prophesied 
of his glory,'-' even through the mists of failure. 
Seeing what he really was, we must feel that these bubbles 
of egotism welled up from intellectual depths which 
the world had not yet fathomed; and though it took a 
rather exceptionable form, in substance it was far from 
unwarrantable. 



20 LIFE OF LOED BEACONSFIELB. 



CHAPTER 11. 

THE GEE AT CONSEEVATIYE PARTY. 

1837-1843. 

State of Parties in 1837 — Disraeli's maiden speech — ^Evidence as to 
its merits — Position in the House — The Bedchamber plot— The 
Chartist Petition — Disraeli's marriage — Change in his circum- 
stances — Dissolution of 1841— Disraeli returned for Shrewsbury 
— Exposition of his vie-ws on Protection. 

Disraeli took bis seat in tlie House of Commons on 
the 15th of November 1837, on the second bench just 
behind Sir Robert Peel. The state of parties at this 
time has been so accurately described by himself in his 
political novels that the reader who is curious about it 
will do well to consult them for himself. Within two 
years of the meeting of the first Reformed Parliament 
the Whigs had run through nearly all the popularity 
which that measure had acquired for them ; and after 
the General Election of 1835 the Tory party, which had 
apparently been annihilated, rose from its ashes in num- 
bers far from contemptible, in ability, experience, and 
debating powers greatly superior to its opponents. It 
was calculated by the whips and wire-pullers that after 
another registration Peel would have a clear majority. 
These hopes were nipped in the bud by the accession of 



THE GREAT CONSERVATIVE PARTY, 21 

the young Queen while the Whigs were still in office, 
which gave them the chance of appealing to the country 
as ker ministers, an advantage which gained them so many 
seats that they were able to retain their hold on office 
through another Parliament. 

But the reaction, temporarily arrested, soon set in 
again more strongly and steadily than ever. By their 
Irish policy, their ecclesiastical policy, and their finan- 
cial policy, the Whigs disgusted and alarmed thou- 
sands of independent men, and alienated, at the same 
time, many of their old friends, who found it necessary 
to become Conservatives to ensure being ruled by men 
of business. But it will be seen, as Mr. Disraeli saw, 
that the tide of opinion which set in against the 
Liberals from 1837 to 1841 was only very partially and 
superficially a Conservative or Tory movement. The 
middle classes began to turn to Sir Eobert Peel as 
the safest and most experienced statesman to whom 
their fortunes could be entrusted. But they went no 
farther. Of Tory principles as they were then under- 
stood, the Toryism of Eldon and Wetherell, they were 
certainly not enamoured, and they knew of no other. 
If a peaceful, economical and constitutional Govern- 
ment, including the ablest administrators of the day, 
and prepared to give the country such measures as the 
times required, chose to call itself Conservative, then the 
nation was Conservative, but not m any other sense. 
But a party of this kind could never restore that 
** faith " which the Reform Bill had destroyed, and 
which, even if devoted to an obsolete system, is still the 
fountain light of all political creeds. This truth did 
not dawn on Mr. Disraeli all at once any more than 
it did on Mr. Gladstone. Both imagined they saw 
something in the apparent revival of Toryism between 



22 LIF^ OF LORD BEAC0N8FIELD. 

1835 and 1841 which was not there. Mr. Gladstone 
says, in his Chaj/ier of Autohioffraphy, that no sooner 
were his friends in office than he found there was not a 
single man prepared to act on these principles. And 
Mr. Disraeli, who made a similar discovery about the 
same time, expressed his sentiments in Coningshy and 
Sybil. But in 1837 all this was to come. Mr. Disraeli 
had as yet unbounded faith in Sir Robert Peel, and 
looked to him to play the part which he afterwards 
assigned to Young England. 

Full of these ideas he passed within the portals of 
those '* proud and passionate halls,'' of which he was 
destined one day to be the ruler, confident in his 
destinies, and little dreaming, perhaps, of the trials that 
awaited him, and which were not to be the least severe 
when he had apparently distanced all competitors. His 
maiden speech was delivered on the 7th of December 
1837, when he experienced a foretaste of the malignity, 
the injustice, and the persistent misrepresentation which 
pursued him through his whole career. The subject of 
debate was a motion made by Mr. Smith O'Brien, 
relating to an alleged subscription fund in Ireland for 
promoting petitions against the return of members who 
belonged to Mr. O'ConnelFs party. Disraeli followed 
O'Connell, and his voice was immediately drowned in 
the clamour raised by a host of members below the bar, 
consisting of the agitator's " tail," and a few English 
Radicals who combined with them. Of the speech itself 
it is enough to say that it was in his early style, while 
his rhetoric was still green, and when he had not yet 
learned the due proportion in which epigram should be 
mixed with solid argument. But it does not appear that 
his reception by the House at large was altogether 
unfavourable. We read in his own account of it that 



THE GUEAT CONSERVATIVE PARTY. 23 

Sir Eobert Peel cheered him repeatedly; that Sir 
John Campbell, the Attorney-General, assured him 
that the front bench had been very anxious to listen 
to him, and had no control over the clique below ; 
and that Sheil, who heard the speech, said to some 
friends at the Athenjjbum : "If ever the spirit of 
oratory was in a man, it is in that man." There is 
no difficulty in believing that competent judges saw 
the promise of future excellence under all these 
disadvantageous conditions, and notwithstanding the 
eccentric exterior of the ambitious neophyte. Bulwer 
asked Sheil to meet him at dinner, and in the course 
of the evening the experienced orator gave him the 
following good advice : — 

If you had been listened to, what would have been the result ? You 
would have made the best speech that you ever would have made. It 
would have been received frigidly, and you would have despaired of 
yourself. I did. As it is, you have shown to the house that you 
have a line organ, that you have an unlimited command of language, 
that you have coui'age, temper, and readiness. Now get rid of your 
genius for a session. Speak often, for you must not show yourself 
cowed, but speak shortly. Be very quiet, try to be dull, only argue, 
and reason impei'f ectly ; for if you reason with precision, they will 
think you are trying to be witty. Astonish them by speaking on 
subjects of detail. Quote figures, dates, calculations, and in a short 
time the House will sigh for the wit and eloquence which they all 
know are in you ; they will encourage you to pour them fortk. and 
then you will have the ear of the House and be a favourite. 

But we have still among us a living witness of the 
scene, whose testimony to the real merits of the speech 
must be held to be conclusive. " My lords," said 
Lord Granville, on May 9ih, 1881, "I myself, assisted 
by some of those social advantages which Mr. Disraeli 
was without, came into the House six months before 
Mr. Disraeli took his seat in that assembly. I had 
thus the opportunity of hearing that speech famous for 



24 LIFU OF LORD BEAC0N8FIELB. 

its failure, and I am convinced that if that speech had 
been made in a House of Commons which knew him 
better it would have been received with cheers and 
sympathetic, not derisive, laughter." Mr. Disraeli 
never spoke again without being listened to with 
attention. Ten days after his first appearance, he 
presented himself to the House again on Talfourd's 
Copyright Bill, detaining his audience a very little 
while, making a practical suggestion to influence 
Talfourd,* and winding up with a point which told 
very well. '* As for myself, I trust that the age of 
literary patronage has passed, and it will be honour- 
able to the present Government if, under its auspices, 
it be succeeded by that of legislative protection." 

His course was now clear. It was soon understood 
that whatever the general character of his speeches, 
they were pretty sure to contain something that was 
original, and probably something that was witty ; and 
though more than this is necessary to make a man a 
power in the House of Commons, it is enough, at all 
events to secure him a fair field, and prevent him 
from being ^' howled down." 

The two principal events affecting Mr. Disraeli's poli- 
tical career during the existence of his first Parliament 
were the Chartist insurrection and the Bedchamber 
Plot, such being the name given to a so-called Palace 
intrigue, whereby the Whigs, it is said, endeavoured 
to secure their own return to power after resigning on 
the Jamaica Bill in 1839. Sir Robert Peel, on being 
Bent for, found that Her Majesty desired to retain 
about her person the ladies of the Bedchamber. It 
turned out that there were only two whose dic^missal 
8ir Robert thought essential. But the Queen con- 
tinuing firm, he declined to form a ministry, and 



THE GREAT CONSERVATIVE PARTY. 25 

the Melbourne Government was reinstated. Opinion 
was much divided at the time on the conduct of the 
different parties concerned. Disraeli thought Sir 
Robert wrong. He thought it was both ungraceful 
and impolitic on the part of the leader of the Tories 
to thwart a young sovereign, *' and that sovereign a 
woman," in the first exercise of her prerogative. 
With his head full of a monarchical revival, it was 
natural that he should think so ; as natural, per- 
haps, as that Sir Robert Peel, who remembered the 
effects of female influence in a previous reign, should 
think the reverse. However, the Whigs took little 
by the manoeuvre. They only gained time to re- 
double their own unpopularity, so that if the advice 
which Lord Melbourne gave the Queen was really 
unconstitutional, he paid the penalty. 

It would have been wiser, however, in Sir Robert 
Peel, to have waived the point and trusted to the 
Queen's good sense to save him from the difi&culties 
which he apprehended ; and he too, perhaps, would 
have had his reward, for had he taken oflQce in 1839, 
instead of 1841, he would not have come into power 
so irrevocably committed to the Corn Laws, and his 
repeal of them would have looked less like the betrayal 
of confidence than it did under the actual circum- 
stances. It is rather curious that in Disraeli^s letters 
to his sister we find no reference to this affair, and 
only a very brief mention of the Chartist disturb- 
ances, in which he took so lively an interest, and of 
which he has left us so animated an account in Si/hil. 

It was on the 12th of July 1839 that he made his 
speech on the Chartist Petition, presented to Parlia- 
ment by Mr. Attwood, member for Birmingham, and 
demanding what were called the five points — manhood 



26 LIFE OF LOUD BEACONSFIFLD. 

suffrage, vote by ballot, electoral districts, annual 
parliaments, and payment of members. He writes 
about this speecb to bis sister in bis usual style: '* I 
made a capital speecb last nigbt," be says. But at 
all events it was a very remarkable speecb, and tbe 
one wbicb, it is said, first gained bim tbe ear of tbe 
House. Six years afterwards be described it again in 
tbe novel we bave just named. Sybil, tbe beroine, tbe 
beautiful, refined, and bigbly-educated daugbter of a 
C|;artist leader, and entbusiastically devoted to tbe 
cause, is sitting in St. James's Park on a fine summer 
morning reading tbe report of tbe debate. 

Yes, tlaerewas one voice that had sounded in that proud Parliament, 
that, free from the slang of faction, had dared to express immortal 
truths : the voice of a noble who, without being a demagogue, had 
upheld the popular cause ; had pronounced his conviction that the 
rights of labour were as sacred as those of property ; that if a diffe- 
rence were to be established, the interests of the living wealth ought 
to be preferred ; who had declared that the social happiness of the 
millions should be the first object of a statesman, and that, if this 
were not achieved, thrones and dominions, the pomp and power 
of courts and empires were alike worthless. 

Tbe speecb itself is cbiefly remarkable for a passage 
in wbicb Mr. Disraeli expresses bis distrust of tbe 
middle classes as a foundation for any system of govern- 
ment. But his sympatby witb tbe Chartists of tbat 
day was quite sincere, tbougb be did not agree witb tbem 
practically; and bis kindly reception of Cooper tbe 
Cbartist, five years after tbe speecb was delivered, was 
referred to in terms of bigb approval by Mr. Gladstone 
in bis great funeral oration over bis rival's tomb. 

Tbrougbout tbe correspondence for tbe years 
1838-39, tbe name of Mrs. Wyndbam Lewis occurs 
frequently. Sometimes Disraeli accompanies ber to tbe 
tbeatre. Wben be got bis Coronation medal he pre- 



THE GREAT CONSERVATIVE PARTY, 27 

sented it to " Mrs. W. L.," and after her husband's 
death, which took place on the 14th of March 1838, 
nobody was surprised at hearing who was to be liis 
successor. They were married in London on the 28th 
of August 1839, and went to Tunbridge Wells for the 
first days of their honeymoon. They stayed at the 
" Kentish," then one of the principal hotels in that 
charming little watering place, and visited Bayham 
Abbey and Penshurst, where Disraeli found, of course, 
that his friend De Lisle was out shooting. They only 
stayed about ten days in England, and then set out for 
Germany, arriving at Baden-Baden on the 16th of Sep- 
tember. *' The most picturesque, agreeable, lounging 
sort of place you can imagine," he writes; ** a bright 
little river winding about green hills, with a white 
sparkling town of some dozen palaces, called hotels, and 
some lodging-houses like the side scenes of a melo- 
drama, and an old ruined castle or two on woody 
heights.'^ Mrs. Disraeli, however, pronounced it *' not 
much better than Cheltenham,'' so they left it in about 
a week, and went on to Munich. At Munich they 
passed about three weeks, and early in November they 
were at Paris. The end of the month found them in 
England and settled at Grosveaor Gate. Lord Malraes- 
bury met them at dinner in the following season, and 
describes Mrs. Disraeli as a very remarkable woman 
both in mind and manner. 

Disraeli's marriage made a great change in his cir- 
cumstances. He was now for the first time beyond the 
pressure of pecuniary cares, and rich enough to take 
upon himself the style and fashion of an English 
country gentleman. He did not, however, become the 
owner of Hughenden immediately ; and as late as Sep- 
tember 1843 made Bradenham his country home. It 



28 LIFE OF LORD BEAC0N8FIFLJ). 

was here, ** in his old writing-room," next to his 
sister's room, that, in the autumn of 1843, he finished 
Coiiingshy, which he had sketched out at Deepdene 
early in September. He was master of Hughenden 
before 1847, and that is all that I can ascertain. 

Parliament met in the month of January, and the 
Whigs struggled desperately on through this session 
and the next. But at this time, in the days of the old 
ten-pound franchise, and before the growth of that sin- 
gular product of our own day, the High Church 
Radical, the three great interests in the country, the 
moneyed interest, the agricultural interest, and the Church 
interest, could, when united, carry all before them, and 
Sir Robert Peel had united them. This was " the great 
Conservative Party." The motley combination of Re- 
pealers, Free Traders, and Dissenters, which was all the 
Whigs had to oppose to him, was no match for this 
solid phalanx. They were gradually deserted by their 
own followers in the House of Commons, and, finally 
slaking their all on the popularity of a fixed duty on 
corn, they were defeated, in the session of 1841, by a 
mnjority of thirty-six, and Sir Robert Peel, who would 
*' rather be the leader of the country gentlemen of Eng- 
land than possess the confidence of sovereigns," and 
who opposed the fixed duty avowedly on the ground 
that it must lead in the end to Free Trade, gave notice 
shortly afterwards of his intention to move a vote of 
want of confidence. This was carried against Govern- 
ment by a majority of one, and on the 23rd of June 
Parliament was dissolved. 

The Conservative cause was everywhere triumphant. 
Mr. Disraeli was returned for Shrewsbury. And Sir 
Robert Peel became Prime Minister with a majority of 
seventy at his back. Guizot prophesied that he would 



THE GBEAT CONSERVATIVE PABTY. 29 

be the Walpole of the nineteenth century, and liad he 
adhered to the principles which brought him into 
power, it is difficult to see what could have turned him 
out of it. He might have stayed in for two Parliaments 
at all events, and probably for a third also. But scarcely 
was he seated in power, ere doubts began to creep into 
his mind concerning the truth of the commercial theo- 
ries which, for six years, he had been so diligently in- 
culcating on his followers. What was he to do ? The 
rank and file of the party began to complain of his cold- 
ness, his reserve, his pride, his arrogance, his impe- 
riousuess. This is just the behaviour we should expect 
from one who, being at the head of a great party, 
and trusted by them implicitly as the champion of a 
political creed, becomes suddenly infected with scepti- 
cism, and knows not where to look for sympathy. We 
may pity a man placed in such a position as this, but 
we cannot acquit him of a serious error if he takes 
advantage of the power he has gained by advocating 
one set of principles to effect the triumph of another; 
and, without taking his followers into his confidence or 
making a single effort to convert them, suddenly, and 
almost contemptuously, abandons the cause which they 
had entrusted to him, espouses the system which he had 
taught them to abhor, and requires of them at a 
moment's notice, and on his own sic volo sic jubeo, to 
adopt it entirely, on pain of destroying the position 
which it had been the work of their leader to build up. 
It was not, however, till Peel had been in office two 
years that any signs of insubordination began to show 
themselves. Disraeli defended his earlier financial mea- 
sures in speeches of marked ability, both in the House 
of Commons and in an address to his constituents at 
Shrewsbury. On the 25th of April 1843, when Mr. 



30 LIFE OF LOUD BEACONSFIELB. 

Ricardo, the Member for Stoke, moved "That the 
remission of duties should not be postponed to the 
execution of commercial treaties," Mr. Disraeli delivered 
a speech which, " to this day," says Mr. Ilorley,* " is 
remarkable for its large and comprehensive survey of 
the whole field of our commerce, and for its discern- 
ment of the channels in which it would expand." But 
it is remarkable for more than this. For it distinctly 
predicts the position in which England would find her- 
self if, while she adopted Free Trade, the rest of Europe 
clung to Protection ; and he endeavoured to impress 
upon his audience the very important truth that the 
great Powers of the Continent place political considera- 
tions first and political economy second. 

This was his own practice as well. If he was a Pro- 
tectionist, he was a Protectionist on political not upon 
commercial principles, and in his speech at Shrewsbury, 
May 9th, 1843, he expounded his ideas at some length. 
After showing that Sir Robert Peel was only treading in 
the footsteps of Mr. Pitt and Lord Liverpool, he 
continued as follows : — 

I never will commit myself upon this great question to petty econo- 
mical details. I will not pledge myself to miserable questions of 
6d, in 7s. 6d. or 8s. of duties about corn. I do not care whether your 
corn sells for this sum or that, or whether it is under a sliding 
scale or a fixed duty ; but what I want and what I wish to 
secure, and what, as far as my energies go, I will secure, is the pre- 
ponderance of the landed interest. Gentlemen, when I talk of 
the preponderance of the landed interest, do not for a moment suppose 
that I mean merely the preponderance of " squires of high degree," 
that, in fact, I am thinking only of justices of the peace. My thought 
wanders farther than a lordly tower or a manorial hall. I am look- 
ing, in using that very phrase, to what I consider the vast 
majority of the English nation. I do not undervalue the mere (supe- 
riority of the landed classes ; on the contrary, I think it a most 

* Life of Cobden, vol. ii. p 336. 



Tim GEE AT CONSEBVATIVE PARTY. 31 

necessarj element of political power, and national civilisation; 
but I am looking to the population of cur innumerable villages, to 
the crowds in our rural towns ; aye, and I mean even something more 
than that by the landed interest. I mean that estate of the poor 
which, in my opinion, has been already tampered with, dangerously 
tampered with ; which I have also said, let me remind you, in other 
places besides Shrewsbury. I mean by the estate of the poor, the 
great estate of the Church, which has, before this time, secured our 
liberty, and may, for aught I know, still secure our civilisation. 

Gentlemen, we hear a great deal in the present day upon the sub- 
ject of the feudal system. I have heard from the lips of Mr. Cobden — 
no, I have not heard him say it, as I was not present to hear the cele- 
brated speech he made in Drury Lane Theatre — but we have all 
heard how Mr. Cobden, who is a very eminent person, has said, in a 
very memorable speech, that England was the victim of the feudal 
system, and we have all heard how he has spoken of the bar- 
barism of the feudal system and of the barbarous relics of the 
feudal system. Now, if we have any relics of the feudal system, 
I regret that not more of it is remaining. Think one moment 
— and it is well you should be reminded of what this is, because 
there is no phrase more glibly used in the present day than 
the barbarism of the feudal system. Now, what is the funda- 
mental principle of the feudal system, gentlemen ? It is that the 
tenure of all property shall be the jDcrformance of its duties. Why, 
when the Conqueror carved out parts of the land and introduced the 
feudal system, he said to the recipient, " You shall have that estate, 
but you shall do something for it ; jon shall feed the poor ; you shall 
endow the Church ; you shall defend the land in case of war; and you 
shall execute justice and maintain truth to the poor for nothing." It is 
all very well to talk of the barbarities of the feudal system, and to 
tell us that in those days when it flourished a great variety of gross 
and grotesque circumstances and great miseries occurred ; but these 
were not the result of the feudal sj'stem ; they were the result of the 
barbarism of the age. They existed not from the feudal system, but 
in spite of the feudal system. The principle of the feudal system, the 
principle which was practically operated upon, was the noblest prin- 
ciple, the grandest, the most magnificent and benevolent that was ever 
conceived by sage, or ever practised by patriot. Why, when we hear 
a political economist, or an Anti-Corn-Law Leaguer, or some conceited 
Liberal reviewer, come forward and tell us a grand discovery of 
modern science, twittmg and taunting, perhaps, some unhapj^y squire 
who cannot respond to the alleged discovery — when I hear them say, 
as the great discovery of modei'n science, that " Property has its 



32 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 

duties as well as its rights," my answer is that that is but a feeble 
plagiarism of the very principle of that feudal system which you are 
always reviling. Let me next tell those gentlemen who are so fond of 
telling us that property has its duties as well as its rights, that 
labour also has its rights as well as its duties. And when I see masses 
of property raised in this country which do not recognise that prin- 
ciple ; when I find men making fortunes by a method which permits 
them (very often in a very few years) to purchase the lands of the 
old territorial aristocracy of the country, I cannot help remembering 
that those millions are accumulated by a mode which does not recog- 
nise it as a duty " to endow the Church, to feed the poor, to guard 
the land, and to execute justice for nothing." And I cannot help ask- 
ing myself, when I hear of all this misery, and of all this suffering ; 
when I know that evidence exists in our Parliament of a state of 
demoralisation in the once happy population of this land, which is not 
equalled in the most barbarous countries, which we suppose the more 
rude and uncivilised in Asia are — I cannot help suspecting that this has 
arisen because property has been permitted to be created and held 
without the performance of its duties. 

If we recur to the continental system of parcelling out landed 
estates, I want to know how long you can maintain the political 
system of the country? That estate of the Church which I men- 
tioned ; that estate of the poor to which I referred ; that great fabric 
of judicial rights to which I made allusion; those traditionary man- 
ners and associations which spring out of the land, which form the 
national character, which form part of the possession of the poor not 
to be despised, and which is one of the most important elements of 
political power — they will tell you " Let it go." My answer to that 
is, " If it goes, it is revolution, a great, a destructive revolution. For 
these reasons, gentlemen, I believe, in that respect faithfully repre- 
senting your sentiments, that I have always upheld that law which I 
think will uphold and maintain the preponderance of the agricultural 
interests of the country. I do not wish to conceal the ground upon 
which I wish to uphold it. I never attempted to uphold it by talking 
of the peculiar burthen which, however, I beheve, may be legiti- 
mately proved, or indulging in many of those arguments in favour 
of the Corn Laws which may or may not be sound, but which are 
always brought forward with a sort of hesitating consciousness which 
may be assumed to be connected with futility. I take the only 
broad, and only safe line, namely, that what we ought to uphold is 
that the preponderance of the landed interest has made England ; 
that it is an immense element of political power and stability ; that 
■we should never have been able to undertake the great war in which 



THE GREAT CONSERVATIVE PARTY. 33 

we embarked in the memory of many present ; that we could never 
have been able to conquer the greatest mihtary genius the world ever 
saw with the greatest means at his disposal, and to hurl him from the 
throne, if we had not had a territorial ai'istocracy to give stability to 
our constitution. 

This whole argument for Protection, which takes it 
out of the region of arithmetic and transfers it to the 
higher ground of political philosophy, was alien from 
the mind of Peel, who was by nature a political econo- 
mist, and whose creed, as has well been said, was the 
conservatism of the bank and the counting-house, not 
of the cloister and the manor-house ; and if we would 
have the key to Young England in a few words, it was a 
revolt against bourgeois politics, against the hard and 
uninteresting aspect which Conservatism in the hands 
of Sir Robert Peel was beginning to assume. There 
was food for the imagination both in Toryism and 
Radicalism ; but not in that sober, prudent, middle-class 
compromise, which was rightly described by Mr. Tad- 
pole, in Goningshyy as composed of Tory men and Whig 
measures. 



8 



34 LIFE OF LOUD BEACONSFIFLD. 



CHAPTER IIL 

YOUNG ENGLAND. 

1843. 

Yonng England Toryism and Conservatism — Disraeli's position — 
Breach with Peel — Coningshy — The Young England creed — 
Didactic elements in Coningshy — Its portraits and types — Tour in 
the manufacturing districts — Sybil — Theme of the novel — Dis- 
raeli's political ideal — Young England and the Anglican revival. 

The whole of the speech from which the extracts in 
the ahove chapter have been taken, and which was 
delivered by Mr. Disraeli at Shrewsbury on the 
9th of May 1843, three months before the first, breach 
with Sir Robert Peel, is a foreshadowing of the position 
which Young England was presenily to assume, and of 
the forthcoming indictment against the great Conserva- 
tive party, which made the hair of Tadpole and Taper 
stand on end. That party had not been true to the prin- 
ciples therein sketched out. Its support of the Poor Law, 
and its issue of the Ecclesiastical Commission, were 
blows struck at the territorial position of the Church, 
and the authority of the landed gentry, which were, 
in Mr. Disraeli's eyes, among the most sacred de- 



YOUNG ENGLAND. 35 

posits of Toryism. Sir Robert Peel was willing to 
establish the supremacy of the House of Commons 
over the two other estates of the realm^ and the Crown 
as well. Conservatism, after all, was only Whiggism 
under another name. Why Mr. Disraeli did not 
discover this before is one of the innumerable ques- 
tions in the history of his political opinions to which 
no satisfactory answer will ever probably be returned. 
In 1835, when he looked to Sir Robert Peel as 
the saviour of the State, the Tamworth Manifesto 
and the Ecclesiastical Commission, the objects of his 
bitterest scorn and keenest invective in 1843, had both 
been issued. Nor could it have been only Sir Robert 
Peel's change of opinion on Protection which made the 
difference between Young England Toryism and Conser- 
vatism, for, in the first place, Young England was born 
before Peel's change of front became apparent, while, 
what is much more important, not only had the political 
infidelity which it was the object of Young England 
to expose nothing whatever to do with such questions 
as the Corn 'Laws, but the great statesmen to whom 
the new party looked for inspiration — Bolingbroke, 
Shelburne, and Pitt — had themselves been free-traders. 
Perhaps. he waited to see what a Conservative Govern- 
ment would bring forth before declaring himself more 
openly. Perhaps he felt some natural reluctance to 
break with the only party to which he could look for 
political advancement till he felt more sure of the 
ground under his own feet, and of his own ability to 
create a party for himself. At one time it was un- 
blushingly asserted, and therefore not unfrequently 
believed, that he had applied to Sir Robert Peel for 
some appointment in the Government, and that the 
Prime Minister's refusal was the cause of his declaration 

3 * 



36 LIFE OF LOUD BEACONSFIELD, 

of hostilities. This calumny, however, has been ex- 
ploded long ago, and we can only explain his attitude 
between 1835 and 1843 by falling back on the simple 
expedient of believing that he spoke the truth; that he 
really meant what he said in his letter to the Times,^ 
which we have already quoted, and in another, which 
will be found below ; and that, the Tamworth Manifesto 
notwithstanding, it w^as the pristine Toryism of the 
time of Anne and George the First that Sir Kobert 
Peel, emerging from the darkness of 1832, was expected 
to restore. That he continued in this faith for the 
space of eight years is not, of course, to be believed. 
Scepticism must have been germinating in his mind 
for some years before it broke out into open mutiny. 
But at what moment his disbelief in Peelite Conserva- 
tism became absolute and final it is, of course, impos- 
sible to say. 

It was in August 1843 that the storm burst. On 
the 9Lh of that month Sir Eobert Peel's Irish Arms Bill 
was read a third time, and Mr. Disraeli, Lord J. 
Manners and others commented on it with some 
severity. In this they were severely taken to task by 
the Treasury Bench, and warmly defended by the 
Morning Chronicle and the Times, This was the first 
open breach, and it was never healed, Aprojios of this 
alfair Mr. Disraeli, writing to the Times, on the 11th of 
August 1843, expresses himself to the following 
effect : — 

I voted for " the industrial measures of Sir Robert Peel last year, 
and defended them during the present, because I believed, and still 
believe, that they were founded on sound principles of commercial 
policy ; principles which were advocated by that great Tory states- 
man, Lord Bolingbroke, in 1713 ; principles which, in abeyance during 

* December 31, 1835. 



YOUNG ENGLAND. 87 

the Whig Government of seventy years, were revived by that great 
Tory statesman Mr. Pitt ; and, though their progress was disturbed 
by war and revolution, which were faithful to the traditional policy of 
the Tory Party, sanctioned and developed, on the return of peace and 
order, by Lord Liverpool. It is not merely with reference to commer- 
cial policy that I believe that a recurrence to old Tory principles 
would be of great advantage to this countiy. It is a specific, in my 
opinion, and the only one, for many of those disquietudes which now 
perplex our society. I see no other remedy for that war of classes 
and creeds which now agitates and menaces us but in an earnest 
return to a system which may be described generally as one of 
loyalty and reverence, of popular rights and social sympathies. 

The young men round about him who shared in those 
ideas were Lord John Manners, the Hon. George Smy the, 
Mr. Bailie Cochrane, and some others ; and out of 
Parliament they seem to have found a ready sympathiser 
in Mr. Henry Hope, of Deepdene, where Disraeli now 
spent a good deal of his time. Here he and his wife 
spent the Christmas of 1840, with many *^ merry 
gambols, charades, and ghosts " ; such a Christmas, 
perhaps, as he afterwards describes at Eustace Lyle's, 
when Buckhurst was Lord of Misrule. And it was 
amid these glades and alleys and in close communion 
with these gifted friends that those ideas were ripened, 
which were now to find expression in the most remark- 
able political fictions which our literature has produced. 
He writes to his sister from Deepdene, in September 
1843, that he is coming to Bradenham, and wants a 
workroom. If it does not inconvenience anybody, he 
would like to have his old writing-room next to hers. 
It may easily be supposed that his request was granted, 
nnd here, amid the beautiful beech-woods of his favourite 
Buckinghamshire, he composed Conincjshy. 

The main object of Coninyshy was to protest 
against the elimination of the royal prerogative from 
our Constitutional system, which had been effected by 



38 lif:e of lord beaconsfield. 

the revolution of 1688, and to recall to the public mind 
the writings of Bolingbroke as representing the true 
principles of the Monarchy. The downfall of the oli- 
garchic system in 1832 might, he thought, pave the way 
for the revival of them. But Young England went far- 
ther than this. It embraced that emancipation of the 
Church from Parliamentary dictation in matters purely 
spiritual, which is now universally desired by all sober 
and moderate High Churchmen : that maintenance of 
ancient local jurisdictions, and, if necessary, the crea- 
tion of new ones, which somehow or other the Liberal 
Party, with its unrivalled powers of mystification, has 
contrived to represent as its own invention ; and that 
improvement in the condition of the labouring classes, 
both urban and rural, of which Mr. Disraeli lived to 
accomplish much, and which his successor is now 
occupied in completing. 

But it was not so much the particular measures to be 
adopted by the Tory party in order to re-establish its 
title to be *' the popular political confederacy '"' of this 
-country, as the spirit in which the work was to be 
undertaken, that distinguished the teaching of Young 
England. Coningsby told his grandfather that he 
wished to see the restoration of political faith, which, 
to Lord Monmouth, was foolishness. But that these 
words, in the year 1844, had a real meaning in the 
eyes of sober politicians may be gathered from an 
article in the Edinhargh Review, vol. Ixxx., in which 
the writer says of the old regime : ^* This was a system 
on which one^s moral nature could repose, a solid 
temple in which one could sincerely worship." With 
these words may be compared Mr. Gladstone's : — 

One of my objects in this brief retrospect is to suggest what 
party prejudice appears to forget, that the true character of our 



YOUNG ENGLAND. 89 

working Parliamentary system is not determined exclusively by 
the condition of the franchise and what is termed the distribution 
of seats. Another is to make an apology for those who felt that, 
in surrendering the former system as a whole, to substitute 
for it the scheme of 1832, they were committing themselves to a 
series of changes, and not to one alone. The convictions of men like 
Mr. Burke, Lord Grenville, Mr. Canning, Mr. Hallam, in its favour 
represent something much higher, much more historical, than has 
since been, or could be, arrayed in defence of schemes essentially 
intermediate and provisional, against further modification.* 

Voild tout. Here is the whole foundation and 
justification of that '* unparalled betrayal ' in which 
so many good Conservatives were only too willing to 
believe. 

It is true that Mr. Disraeli himself was no admirer of 
the old regime, which fell in 1832. Both the Edin- 
burgh Reviewer and Mr. Gladstone would have admitted 
that it was worn out. But in at least half the nation 
it did still inspire real faith. With all its corruptions, 
with all its exclusiveness and intolerance, were com- 
bined great elements of strength, and ancient and glo- 
rious associations. It had on its side all the weight of 
antiquity, experience, and prescription. Men had sat 
under its shadow for many generations, in peace, happi- 
ness, and prosperity. It represented distinct principles 
which were not mere names; a monarchy which, how- 
ever limited, still possessed real power ; an aristocracy 
which really governed, and a Church which was still the 
one recognised religion of the nation, and possessed a 
legal claim on the support of the entire people. These 
were principles, erroneous or otherwise, for which men 
felt that they could fight ; and the hope of establishing 
something in its place, which should inspire the like 
degree of reverence, and rest on the same solid founda- 

* Gleanings, vol. i. p. 137. 



40 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 

tions, was the mainspring of the Young England creed. 
Mr. Gladstone seems to have come to the conclusion that 
this was not possible, and that it was the wisest course 
to throw over the past altogether, and go forward to 
meet the democracy with open hands. Mr. Disraeli 
and his party thought otherwise. They hoped that it 
was not yet too late to obliterate the traces of mis- 
government which had prejudiced the working classes 
against all established institutions, and to rekindle 
that attachment to the Throne, the Church, and the 
landed proprietors of the kingdom, " the natural leaders 
of the people," which, though the flame burned low, 
was yet far from being extinct. 

In Conin^sbi/y the dramatic and didactic elements 
are not so closely interwoven with each other as not to 
admit of being separated, and it is perfectly possible to 
convey to the reader a clear idea of the chief positions 
which are maintained in it, without trenching on the 
province of the literary critic, or anticipating the re- 
marks we have to make on the plot, the characters, and 
the language. 

Harry Coningsby is the grandson and only lineal de- 
scendant of the Marquis of Monmouth, a great noble of 
colossal fortune, the incarnation of common sense, cyni- 
cism, and selfishness, though disposed to act kindly to 
those who do not thwart him ; a worshipper of Pitt, but 
practically a supporter of the later school of Toryism, 
which was developed by the French Bevolution. We 
are introduced to the boy and the man, the representa- 
tives of the old generation and the new, in May 1832, 
just as the old constitution was making its expiring 
effort. And on the character of the Parliamentary Ee- 
form which the Whigs succeeded in establishing, Mr. 
Disraeli has the following very interesting remarks, of 



YOUNG ENGLAND. 41 

which much of Mr. Gladstone's essay on the County 
Franchise is only a repetition : — 

When the crowned Northman consulted on the welfare of his king- 
dom, he assembled the estates of his realm. Now an estate is a class 
*f the nation invested with political rights. There appeared the 
istate of the clergy, of the barons, of other classes. In the Scandina- 
vian kingdoms to this day, the estate of the peasants sends its repre- 
sentatives to the Diet In England, under the Normans, the Church 
and the Baronage were convoked together with the estate of the com- 
munity, a term which then probably described the inferior holders of 
land, whose tenure was not immediate of the Crown. This third 
estate was so numerous that convenience suggested its appearance by 
representation ; while the others, more limited, appeared, and still 
appear, personally. The third estate was reconstructed as circum- 
stances developed themselves. It was a reform of Parliament 
when the towns were summoned. In treating the House of the third 
estate as the House of the People, and not as the House of a privi- 
leged class, the Ministry and Parliament of 1831 virtually conceded 
the principle of universal suffrage. In this point of view, the ten- 
pound franchise was an arbitrary, irrational, and impolitic qualifica- 
tion. It had, indeed, the merit of simplicity, and so had the 
constitutions of Abbe ISiej'^es. But its immediate and inevitable 
result was Chartism. But if the Ministry and Parliament of 1831 
had announced that the time had arrived when the third estate should 
be enlarged and reconstructed, they would have occupied an intelligible 
position; and if, instead of simplicity of elements in its reconstruction, 
they had sought, on the contrary, vai'ious, and varying, materials, 
which would have neutralized the painful predominance of any parti- 
cular interest in the new scheme, and pi'evented those banded 
jealousies which have been its consequences, the nation would have 
found itself in a secure co7idition. Another class, not less numerous 
than the existing one, and invested with privileges not less important, 
would have been added to the public estates of the realm ; and the 
bewildering phrase " the People " would have remained what it really 
is, a term of natural philosophy and not of political science. 

Passing over the intermediate years which are taken 
up with the hoyhood of Coningshy, we come to the 
political crisis of 1834-5, which introduces us to a fine 
dissertation on the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert 
Peel, with an account of the Liverpool Administration 



42 LIFE OF LORD BFAC0N8FIELD. 

in its earlier and later stages. In the former it was the 
** Cabinet of Mediocrities," which has now become a 
household word. In the latter, *' it had come to be 
generally esteemed as a body of men who for Parliamen- 
tary eloquence, official practice, political information, 
sagacity in council, and a due understanding of their 
epoch, were inferior to none that had directed the policy 
of the Empire since the Kevolution." 

At this point Mr. Disraeli enters at once upon the his- 
torical and constitutional theory for the sake of which the 
book was written, and of which the following passage 
presents, perhaps, an adequate epitome: — 

If we survey the tenor of the policy of the Liverpool Cabinet 
during the latter moiety of its continuance, we shall find its character- 
istic to be a partial recurrence to those frank principles of government 
which Mr. Pitt had revived, during the latter part of the last century, 
from precedents that had been set iis either in practice or in dogma 
during its earlier period, by statesmen who then not only bore the 
title but professed the opinions of Tories. Exclusive principles in 
the Constittition and I'estrictive principles in commerce have grown 
up together, and have really nothing in common with the ancient 
character of our political settlement or the manners and customs 
of the English people. Confidence in the loyalty of the nation, 
testified by munificent grants of rights and franchises, and favour to 
an expansive system of traffic, were distinctive qualities of the 
English sovereignty, until the House of Commons usurped the better 
portion of its prerogatives. A widening of our electoral scheme, 
great facilities to commerce, and the rescue of our Koman Catholic 
fellow-subjects from the Puritanic yoke, from fetters which have been 
fastened on them by English parliaments, in spite of the protests and 
exertions of English sovereigns ; these were the three great elements 
and fundamental truths of the real Pitt system — a system founded on 
the traditions of our monarchy, and caught from the writings, the 
speeches, the councils, of those who, for the sake of these and analo- 
gous benefits, had ever been anxious that the Sovereign of England 
should never be degraded into the position of a Venetian Doge. It is 
in the plunder of the Church that we must seek for the primary 
cause of our political exclusion and ciir commercial restraint. That 
unhallowed booty created a factitious aristocracy, ever fearful that 
they might be called upon to re-gorge their sacrilegious spoiL To 



YOUNG ENGLAND. 43 

prevent this, they took refuge in political religionism, and paltering 
■with the disturbed consciences or the pious fantasies of a portion of 
the people, they organized themselves into religions sects. These 
became the unconscious Praetorians of their ill-gotten domains. At 
the head of these religionists, they have continued ever since to 
govern, or powerfully to influence, this country. They have in that 
time pulled down thrones and churches, changed dynasties, abrogated 
and remodelled parliaments ; they have disfranchised Scotland and 
confiscated Ireland. One may admire the vigour and consistency of 
the Whig Party, and recognise in their career that unity of purpose 
that can only spring from a great principle ; but the Whigs introduced 
sectarian religion, sectarian religion led to political exclusion, and 
political exclusion was soon accompanied by commercial restraint. 

But even the Government, which was led in one 
House by Mr. Canning and Sir Eobert Peel, and sup- 
ported in the other by the splendid reputation, ripe 
sagacity, and disinterested patriotism of the Duke of 
Wellington, was not equal to the occasion : — 

This Ministry, strong in the confidence of the Sovereign, the Parlia- 
ment, and the people, might, by the courageous promulgation of great 
historical truths, have gradually formed a public opinion that would 
have permitted them to organize the Tory Party on a broad, a per- 
manent, and national basis. Thej' might have nobly effected a 
complete settlement of Ireland, which a shattered section of this very 
Cabinet was forced a few years after to do partially, and in an equivo- 
cating and equivocal manner. They might have concluded a satis- 
factory reconstruction of the thii'd estate, without producing that 
convulsion with which, from its violent fabrication, our social system 
still vibrates. Lastly, they might have adjusted the rights and pro- 
perties of our national industries in a manner which would have 
prevented that fierce and fatal rivalry that is now disturbing every 
heai'th of the United Kingdom. We may, therefore, visit on the 
laches of this Ministry the introduction of that new principle and 
power into our constitution which ultimately may absorb all — agitation. 
This Cabinet, then, with so much brilliancy on its surface, is the real 
parent of the Roman Catholic Association, the political unions, and 
the Anti-Corn Law League. 

Next comes the Tamworth Manifesto, the account of 
which is made the vehicle for a description of Conserva- 
tism which, as has been already pointed out, contrasts 



U LIFE OF LOBD BEACOJSSFIELD. 

strangely with bis opinion of it in 1835, just after that 
document had been published. 

Conservatism assumes in theory that everything established should 
be maintained ; but adopts in practice that everything that is esta- 
blished is indefensible. To reconcile this theory and this practice, 
they produce what they call " the best bargain"; some arrangement 
■which has no principle and no purpose, except to obtain a temporary 
lull of agitation, until the mind of the Conservatives, without a guide 
and without an aim, distracted, tempted, and bewildered, is prepared 
for another arrangement, equally statesman-like with the preceding 
one. Conservatism was an attempt to carry on affairs by substituting 
the fulfilment of the duties of office for the performance of the func- 
tions of government ; and to maintfiin this negative system by the 
mere influence of property, reputable private conduct, and what are 
called good connections. Conservatism discards Prescription, shrinks 
from Principle, disavows Progress ; having rejected all respect for 
Antiquity, it offers no redress for the Present, and makes no prepara- 
tion for the Future. 

Two years afterwards Coningsby leaves school, and 
during an excursion in the long vocation through the 
Midland counties, falls in with Sidonia. He meets him 
at an inn in a forest, where both take refuge from a 
thunderstorm — all the elements of romance combining 
to lend an interest to the interview — and that day is a 
turning point in Coningsby's career. The stranger — a 
Jew of the purest race, and a complete citizen of the 
world — knows everything, has been everywhere, and 
has seon everybody ; a colossal capitalist, and the 
resource of half the statesmen in Europe in their pecu- 
niary difficulties, he is acquainted with the inner life of 
all the Continental Governments, looks on all institu- 
tions with a calm, unprejudiced eye, and notes their 
merits and defects in the tone of an unconcerned spec- 
tator. The first thing which Coningsby learns from him 
is the "influence of the individual," and then that 
" the history of Heroes is the history of Youth.*' 



YOUNG ENGLAND. 45 

They meet again soon afterwards at Coningsby Castle, 
the seat of Lord Monmouth in the North, where 
Sidonia gives his pupil some further lessons in history, 
politics, and ethnology, and teaches him that theory 
of the Jewish race, which took the world as much by 
surprise as the theory of the British Constitution. 

Coningsby goes up to Cambridge bent upon "con- 
quering knowledge," and with the foundation to build 
upon with which Sidonia had supplied him, he was 
soon equal to the task of opening the minds of his 
companions. The following is his first letter to 
Buckhurst, Lord Vere, and Lord Henry Sydney : — 

I repeat it [said Coningsby], the great object of the Whig leaders 
in England, from the first movement under Hampden to the last more 
successful one in 1688, was to establish in England a high aristo- 
cratic republic, on the model of the Venetian, then the study and 
admiration of all speculative politicians. Read Harrington, turn over 
Algernon Sydney, and you will see how the minds of the English 
leaders in the seventeenth century were saturated with the Venetian 
type. And they at length succeeded ; William IH. found them out. 
He told the Whig leaders, " I will not be a Doge." He balanced 
parties. He baffled them as the Puritans baffled them fifty years 
before. The reign of Anne was a struggle between the Venetian and 
the English systems. Two great Whig nobles, Argyle and Somerset, 
worthy of seats in the Council of Ten, forced their sovereign on her 
death-bed to change the Ministry. They accomplished their object ; 
they brought in a new family on their own terms. George I. was a 
Doge, George H. was a Doge ; they were what William HI., a great 
man, would not be. George HI. tried not to be a Doge, but it was 
impossible materially to resist the deeply-laid combination. He 
might get rid of the Whig magnificoes, but he could not rid himself 
of the Venetian constitution. And a Venetian constitiition did govern 
England, from the accession of the House of Hanover till 1832. Now, 
I do not ask you here to relinquish the political tenets which in 
ordinary times would have been your inheritance. All I say is, the 
constitution introduced by your ancestors having been subverted 
by their descendants your contemporaries, beware of still holding 
Venetian principles of government when you have not a Venetian 
constitution to govern with. 



46 LIFE OF LOUD BEACONSFIELD. 

Coningsby goes to see his friend Milbnnk at 
Oxford, and his theme is still the same, the degrada- 
dation of the Monarchy and the Church, the transitory 
character of the settlement of 1832, and the possibility 
of finding in the Crown a cure for " the moral and 
material disorganization " which society presents. For 
this purpose, says Coningsby — 

I "would accustom the public mind to the contemplation of an 
existing though torpid power in the constitution, capable of removing 
our social grievances were we to transfer to it those prerogatives 
which the Parliament has gradually usurped and used in a manner 
which has produced the present material and moral disorganization. 
The House of Commons is the house of a few ; the Sovereign is the 
sovereign of all. The proper leader of the people is the individual 
who sits upon the throne. 

Representation is not necessarily, or even in a principal sense, par- 
liamentary. Parliament is not sitting at this moment, and yet the 
nation is represented in its highest as well as in its most minute 
interests. Not a grievance escapes notice and redress. I see in the 
newspaper this morning that a pedagogue has brutally chastised his 
pvipil. It is a fact known over all England. We must not forget 
that a principle of government is reserved for our days, that we 
shall not find in our Aristotle, or even in the forests of Tacitus, nor 
iri. our Saxon Wittenagemotes nor in our Plantagenet parliaments. 
Opinion now is supreme, and Opinion speaks in print. The represen- 
tation of the Pi-ess is far more complete than the representation of 
Parliament. Parliamentary representation was the happy device of a* 
ruder age, to which it was admirably adapted — an age of semi- 
civilization, when there was a leading class in the community — but it 
exhibits many symptoms of desuetude. It is controlled by a system 
of representation more vigorous and comprehensive, which absorbs 
its duties and fulfils them more efficiently, and in which discussion is 
pursued on fairer terms, and often with more depth and information. 

If we are forced to revolutionise, let us propose to our consideration 
the idea of a free monarchy established on fundamental laws, itself 
the apex of a vast pile of municipal and local government ruling an 
educated people, represented by a free and intellectual press. Before 
such a royal authority, supported by such a national opinion, the 
Bectional anomalies of our country would disappear. 

The future fortunes of Coningsby himself we shall 



YOUNG ENGLAND, 47 

refer to at a later stage. But from the above extracts 
the reader will be able to discern for himself the nature 
of the political system which was recommended in the 
pages of Coninrjsbij, as a cure for the social chaos 
and disintegration which had followed the Reform Bill 
of 1832. That subsequent events have justified a 
good deal of the language which fifty years ago was 
thought fantastic, and even puerile, will hardly be 
denied. The House of Commons has certainly not 
risen in public opinion since Coniiigshy first saw the 
light. Many of the problems therein referred to have 
only increased in intensity within the last half century. 
Co?ii/)fjshi/, therefore, has quite lived down the charges 
originally brought against it of having been written 
exclusively for efiect without any regard to sober 
reality, or probability. What was then despised, 
ridiculed, and made a butt for the sarcasms of every 
fifth-rate political hack who trod the pavement of Pall 
Mall has actually come to pass. Toryism has appealed 
to the people, and appealed with success ; the degene- 
racy of the House of Commons is admitted and 
lamented by all parties; the restoration to local 
jurisdictions of many of the powers which Parliament 
has absorbed into itself is the acknowledged remedy. 
And if the progress of events has not strengthened the 
prerogative of the Crown, it has made the *' individual" 
more powerful, for a modern Prime Minister with a 
party majority at his back is much more absolute now 
than he was before the Reform Bill, 

Coniugshij was published in the spring of 1844, and 
for a time nothing else was talked about. Many 
years afterwards Mr. Croker pretended that he had 
never heard of Coniiuj^by. Let those believe it who 
will. The book contained several striking portraits, 



48 LIFE OF LORD BEAGONSFIELB. 

but the most striking of all was Bigby. Jobn Wilson 
Croker was Rigby, Lord Henry Sydney was Lord John 
Manners, Buckhurst was Bailie Cochrane, Eustace 
Lyle, Ambrose Philips. Coningsby was George Smythe. 
Beaumanoir, of course, wasBelvoir. But of all the por- 
traits in the gallery Rigby was facile princeps. The 
likeness was recognised at once. Whatever might 
be thought of the charges of meanness and base- 
ness brought against him, there were some qualities 
assigned to him about which there could be no mistake. 
His love of contradiction and dictation, his determination 
to be always in the right, and to allow no one to be right 
except himself, were too well known for anyone ac- 
quainted with the original to doubt for a moment who 
Rigby was. The Duke of Wellington, whose intimacy 
with Croker never cooled, said that he once tried to 
prove to him that he did not know the difference between 
a scarp and a counterscarp. This story by itself is 
sufficient to prove that Rigby was no exaggeration. 

The clubs rang with the inimitable satire. In every 
house in the country which pretended to any interest 
in either politics, literature, or fashion, the book lay 
upon the table. Have you read Go?iingfibi/ ? was the 
stock question which people asked each other at dinner 
parties. And then for Mr. Croker to pretend some 
years afterwards that he had never heard of Coninr/sbt/ 
is too heavy a tax on our credulity. 

But, as types distinct from individuals, the palm is 
borne off by the two brothers-in-arms. Tadpole and 
Taper; the two political underlings, half hacks, half 
adventurers, employed to do the dirty work of the 
party, and trusted to some extent in consequence ; 
members of the Carlton, received in society, and rather 
courted than otherwise by noble and wealthy outsiders, 



YOUNG ENGLAND. 49 

but the incarnation of all that is lowest and meanest 
in public life, mistaking dodges for statesmanship, and 
party slang for the vocabulary of political wisdom. 

But only half of what Disraeli had in his mind when 
he undertook the exposure of Peelite Conservatism was 
completed by the publication of Goningshy. In Con- 
ingshy we have laid before us the history of English 
Parties, and its effect upon the Monarchy and the 
Church. We are now to advance a step farther and 
observe its effect upon the people. He had only touched 
the fringe of the labour question in Cojiingshy, Henry 
Sydney and his Maypoles, Eustace Lyle and his doles, 
were only little prettinesses, which did not pretend to 
go to the root of the matter. In Sybil he struck a 
deeper note. 

On the 30th of August 1844, he writes to his sister 
that Manchester has invited him to take the chair at 
its literary meeting. He accepted the invitation, and 
took the opportunity thus afforded him of making a tour 
through the manufacturing districts, and inspecting the 
working of the factory system with his own eyes. He 
was accompanied by Lord Ji hn Manners and the Hon. 
George Smythe, and the speeches which they delivered 
at Manchester and atBingley, in Yorkshire, were repub- 
lished in 1885, under the title of Young England, On 
the title page we read — '' As attempts are being made to 
persuade the new electors that small farms, allotments, 
and opportunities for physical and mental recreation 
are new inventions of the new Birmingham school of So- 
cialistic politicians, it has been thought well to republish 
this little volume exactly as it appeared 40 years ago." 
No editor's name appears on the title page. But we 
can scarcely be wrong in assigning that office to Lord 
John Manners himself. 

4 



60 LIFE OF LOBD BFAG0N8FIFLD, 

Near tbe town of Bingley, Mrs. Ferrand had recently 
established some allotments for the benefit of operatives, 
and it was in reference to these that Lord John Manners 
spoke some forty-three years ago, in support of those 
views which the Radicals have since stolen from the 
Tories, and in which many of the Tories themselves do • 
not recognise their ancient inheritance. But it is chiefly 
in connection with Mr. Disraeli's observations on the 
state of factory labour that this visit will be remembered, 
although his description of *' war to the cottage," in the 
pages of his second great political novel, is inferior only 
to the vivid picture which he has drawn of the cellars 
and garrets, the "butties*' and the *' Tommy shops," 
of our great mining and manufacturing capitals. 

The ** degradation of the people," then, is the theme 
of Syhilj and in it Mr. Disraeli discovers that pal- 
liation of Chartism which he had glanced at in his 
speech of 1839. Sybil Gerard is the daughter of an 
operative, but both father and daughter are exceptional 
members of the class. Gerard is the descendant of an 
ancient family, which has gradually sunk into the ranks 
of labour, but still retains its traditions, and the hope 
of regaining its estates. He is a manly, generous, 
good-hearted Radical of the Cobbett type, and leader of 
the physical force section of the Chartists. He earns 
excellent wages at a mill which is conducted on excep- 
tionally humane and kindly principles, and he and his 
daughter live in a cottage outside the town, quite above 
the reach of poverty. They are Roman Catholics, and 
Sybil, young, beautiful, and highly educated by the Abbess 
of a neighbouring convent, is destined for the veil, as 
it is totally impossible she could marry in her own sta- 
tion of life. When Sybil, we suppose, is about eigh- 
teen, she accidentally makes the acquaintance of Charles 



YOUNG ENGLAND. 61 

Egreraont, the brother of Lord Marney, the owner of 
large estates in the neighbourhood^ and one of the worst 
specimens of the worst class of English aristocracy, a 
cynical and selfish utilitarian, whose character is Dis- 
raeli's masterpiece. Charles Egremont, however, is of 
a very different mould. He is so struck with the con- 
versation of Gerard, who tells him at their first meeting 
that the Queen reigns over ** two nations, the Rich and 
the Poor," that he resolves to see more of the people ; 
assumes the character of a journalist unattached, and 
takes lodgings near the town of Mowbray. The rest 
may easily be imagined. Egremont falls in love with 
Sybil, and Sybil and Gerard between them almost con- 
vert Egreraont. The reader now knows enough to un- 
derstand the following extracts. Sybil and Egremont 
meet upon an errand of charity, the latter accompanied 
by the clergyman of the parish, Mr. St. Lys : — 

" You feel deeply for the people," said Egremont, looking at her 
earnestly. 

"And do you not? Your presence here assures me of it," said 
Sybil. " When I remember -what the English people once was ; the 
truest, the freest, and the bravest, the best natured and the best 
looking, the happiest and most religious race upon the surface of this 
globe, and think of them now, with all their crimes and all their 
slavish sufferings, their soured spirits and their stunted forms, their 
lives without enjoyment and their deaths without hope, I may well 
feel for them, even if I were not the daughter of their blood." 

After Egremont has become intimate with the Ge- 
rards, their conversation generally turns on these 
subjects. Gerard tells his friend that England is still 
divided between the conquerors and ihe conquered : — 

" But do not you think," said Egremont, " that such a distinction 
has long ceased to exist ? " 

"In what degree?" asked Gerard. "Many circumstances of op- 
pression have doubtless gradually disappeai-ed ; but that has arisen 
from the change of manners, not from any political recognition of 

4 * 



52 LIFE OF LOBD BEACONSFIELD. 

their injustice. The same course of time which has removed many 
enormities, more shocking, however, to our feelings than to those who 
devised and endured them, has simultaneously removed many alle- 
viating circumstances. If the mere baron's grasp be not so ruthless, 
the champion we found in the Church is no longer so ready. The 
spirit of conquest has adapted itself to the changing circumstances 
of ages ; and however its results vary in form, in degree they are much 
the same." 

" But how do they show themselves ? " 

" In many circumstances, which concern many classes ; but I speak 
of those which touch my own order, and therefore I say at once, in 
the degradation of the people." 

" But are the people so degraded ? " 

" There is more serfdom in England now than at any time since the 
Conquest. I speak of what passes under my daily eyes when I say 
that those who labour can as little choose or change their masters 
now as when they were born thralls. There are great bodies of the 
working classes of this country nearer to the condition of brutes than 
they have been at any time since the Conquest. Indeed, I see 
nothing to distingu.ish them from brutes except that their morals are 
inferior. Incest and infanticide are as common among them as among 
the lower animals. The domestic principle wanes ^veaker and weaker 
every year in England ; nor can we wonder at it when there is no 
comfort to cheer and no sentiment to hallow the home." 

" I was reading a work the other day," said Egremont, " that sta- 
tistically proved that the general condition of the people was much 
better at this moment than it had been at any known period of 
history." 

" Ah ! yes. I know that style of speculation," said Gerard. 
« Your gentleman who reminds you that a working man has now a 
pair of cotton stockings, and that Harry the Eighth himself was not 
as well off. At any rate, the condition of classes must be judged of 
by the age, and by their relation with each other. One need not dwell 
on that. I deny the premisses. I deny that the condition of the 
main body is better now than at any other period of our history ; 
that it is as good as it has been at several. I say, for instance, the 
people were better clothed, oetter lodged, and better fed just before 
the War of the Roses than they are at this moment. We know how 
an English peasant lived in those times ; he ate flesh every day, he 
never drank water, was well housed, and clothed in stout woollens. 
Nor are the chronicles necessary to tell us this. The Acts of Parlia- 
ment, from the Plantagenets to the Tudors, teach us alike the price of 
provisions and the rate of wages ; and we see in a moment that the 



YOUNG ENGLAND, 63 

wages of those days brought as much sustenance and comfort as a 
reasonable man could desire." 

"I know how deeply you feel upon this subject," said Egremont, 
turning to Sybil. 

"Indeed it is the only subject that ever engages my thought," she 
replied, " except one." 

" And that one ? " 

" Is to see the people once more kneel before our Blessed Lady," 
replied Sybil. 

As the views expressed in this passage were much ridi- 
culed when they first appeared, we would refer the 
reader to an authority that will be allowed to be unim- 
peachable : the Report, namely, of the Commission for 
Enquiry into the Employment of Women and Children 
in Agriculture, in which the connection of the pea- 
santry with the land and their physical condition is 
traced from the earliest times down to the present date. 
The Blue-book of 1868 fully corroborates the novel of 
1845, and shows that in this as in many other parti- 
culars, both in Goningshy and Sybil, which have been 
called in question, Mr. Disraeli's statements were 
founded on accurate knowledge. 

We must now suppose the Chartist movement to have 
reached its height. The petition has been presented 
and rejected, and the people are represented as feeling 
that they have nothing more to hope for from either 
Party. "Once," says the author, '*it was other- 
wise '^ — 

once the people recognised a Party in the State whose principles 
identified them with the rights and privileges of the multitude ; but 
when they found the parochial constitution of the country sacrificed 
without a struggle, and a rude assault made on all local influences in 
order to establish a severely-organized centralisation, a blow was 
given to the influence of the priest and of the gentleman, the ancient 
champions of the people against arbitraiy courts and rapacious 
parliaments, from which they will iind that it requires no ordinary, 
courage and wisdom to recover. 



64 LIFE OF LOBD BEACONSFIELD, 

In Si/bil the political views of Coningshi/ are repeated 
and enforced by fresh arguments ; and in the conclud- 
ing pages the aims of both are thus expressed : — 

And thus I conclude the last page of a work which, though its form 
he light and unpretending, would yet aspire to suggest to its readers 
some considerations of a very opposite charactei*. A year ago I pre- 
sumed to offer to the public some volumes that aimed at calling their 
attention to the state of our political parties, their origin, their his- 
tory, their present position. In an age of political infidelity, of mean 
passions, and faulty thoughts, I would have impressed upon the rising 
race not to despair, but to seek in a right understanding of the history 
of their country, and in the energies of heroic youth, the elements of 
national welfare. The present work advances another step in the 
same emprise. From the state of parties, it now would draw public 
thought to the state of the people whom those parties for two cen- 
turies have governed. The comprehension and the cure of this 
greater evil depend upon the same agencies as the first ; it is the 
past alone that can explain the present, and it is youth that alone 
can mould the remedial future. The written history of our country 
for the last ten reigns has been a mere phantasm, giving to the origin 
and consequence of public transactions a character and colour in 
every respect dissimilar to their natural form and hue. In this 
mighty mystery all thoughts and things have assumed an aspect and 
title contrary to their real quality and stylo ; Oligarchy has been 
called Liberty ; an exclusive Priesthood has been christened a 
National Church ; Sovereignty has been the title of something that 
has had no dominion, while absolute! power has been wielded by those 
who profess themselves the servants of the People. In the selfish 
strife of factions two great existences have been blotted out of the 
history of England, the Monarch and the Multitude ; as the power of 
the Crown has diminished the privileges of the People have disap- 
peared, till at length the sceptre has become a pageant, and its sub- 
ject has degenerated again into a serf. It is nearly fourteen years 
ago, in the popular frenzy of a mean and selfish revolution, which 
emancipated neither the Crown nor the People, that I first took the 
occasion to intimate, and then to develop, to the first assembly of my 
countrymen that I ever had the honour to address, these convictions. 
They have been misundei-stood, as is ever for a season the fate of 
Ti-uth, and they have obtained for their promulgator much misrepre- 
sentation, as must ever be the lot of those who will not follow the 
beaten track of a fallacious custom. But Time, that brings all things, 
has brought also to the mind of England some suspicion that the 



YOUNG ENGLAND. 55 

idols they have so long worshipped, and the oracles that have so long 
deluded them, are not the true ones. There is a whisper rising in 
this country that Loyalty is not a phrase, Faith not a delusion, and 
Popular Liberty something more diffusive and substantial than the 
profane exercise of the sacred rights of Sovereignty by political 
classes. That we may live to see England once more possess a free 
monarchy and a privileged and prosperous people is my prayer ; that 
these great consequences can only be brought about by the energy 
and devotion of our youth is my persuasion. We live in an age when 
to be young and to be indifferent can be no longer synonymous. We 
must prepare for the coming hour. The claims of the Future are 
represented by suffering millions ; and the youth of a nation are the 
trustees of Posterity. 

I have given copious extracts from these two novels 
because I desired that the author should speak for him- 
self. What he intended to convey is clear enough ; 
how far he thought it practical is a separate question. 

S^bil was published — appropriately — on May Day 
1845, and was dedicated to " a perfect wife.'" It 
attracted little less attention than Co7iingshyf and was 
welcomed by the High Church party as an important 
contribution to their literature. Lord Ashley, too, 
and the promoters of the Factory Acts recognised a 
powerful auxiliary in the hand that drew Hell House 
Yard, Diggs's Tommy Shop, Devil's Dust, and the 
lodgings of Warner, the hand-loom weaver. Hence- 
forth Mr. Disraeli was everywhere recognised as the 
leader of a political and social revival which did not 
allow that the laws of political economy were necessarily, 
at all times and all places and under all circumstances, 
of paramount and absolute authority. 

In what form, or under what conditions, he contem- 
plated the realisation of the political ideal sketched 
out at this period it is impossible to say. But it is 
quite certain that in ConUujshy and Sybil, where he 
pushes these views to the farthest point to which he 



66 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 

ever carried them, he was not contemplating democracy. 
He was fond of using the word democracy to denote a 
class — not a form of government; and he generally 
seems to have meant by it the people in their political 
capacity; the people invested with political rights ; and 
regarded as a political force. But that they should be 
supreme — ui 2)lurimum plurimi valeant — was never his 
intention for a moment. We can only approach his 
meaning by generalising from a large number of state- 
ments published in various shapes and uttered at 
various times. We were to have a monarchy with real 
powers and prerogatives for daily use. The Sovereign 
was not only to reign, but to govern. Nor did his 
speculations point in the direction of a democratic 
despotism, for equally important, in his eyes, with the 
revival of the Monarchy and the Church, was the main- 
tenance of our *' territorial constitution," and the 
authority and jurisdiction of the gentry, a system in- 
compatible with despotism in any form. In his later 
years he seems to have seen that one-half of this scheme, 
the revival of prerogative, was for the present, at all 
events, unattainable; and this conviction must have 
modified his views upon the other parts of the system 
which constituted the Young England creed. The 
extension of popular functions was to be balanced by 
the extension of monarchical authority. Unless the 
two could be combined he would, perhaps, have recom- 
mended neither. But if the first should become 
inevitable, as it did after Lord John Russell re-opened 
the Eeform Question, then, in the absence of the second, 
we must do the best we could with our existing 
materials, and not disdain even the help of the oligarchy 
to preserve the balance of the constitution. At the 
cost of anticipating events we may be allowed, perhaps, 



YOUNG ENGLAND, 67 

at this point, to quote his speech of 1873, as showing 

more clearly than any other passage to which we can 

refer, the degree in which, at the age of sixty-eight, he 

still clung to his original convictions, and the form 

which they had taken in his mind, after thirty years' 

experience of progress. 

I believe that the Tory Party at the present time occupies the 
most satisfactory position which it has held since the days of its 
greatest statesmen, Mr. Pitt and Lord Grenville. It has divested 
itself of those excrescences which are not indigenous to its 
native growth, but which in a time of long prosperity were the con- 
sequence partly of negligence, and partly, perhaps, in a cei'tain 
degree, of ignorance of its traditions. We are now emerging from 
the fiscal period in which almost all the public men of this genera- 
tion have been brought up. All the questions of Trade and Naviga- 
tion, of the Incidence of Taxation, and of Public Economy, are 
settled. But there are other questions not less important, and of 
deeper and higher reach and range, which must soon engage the 
attention of the country : the atti'ibutes of a constitutional 
monarchy — whether the aristocratic principle should be recognised in 
our Constitution, and, if so, in what form? Whether the Commons 
of England shall remain an estate of the realm, numerous but privi- 
leged, and qualified ; or whether they should degenei'ate into an 
indiscriminate multitude ? Whether a National Church shall be 
maintained ; and if so, what shall be its rights and duties ? The 
functions of corporations, the sacredness of endowments, the tenure of 
landed property, the free disposal, and even the existence of any kind 
of property, all those institutions, and all those principles which have 
made this country fi'ee and famous, and conspicuous for its union of 
order with liberty, are now impugned, and in due time will become 
great and burning questions. 

These may fitly be called the last words of Young 
England; and they breathe a spirit of Conservatism 
which thirty years' experience had shown to be a 
necessary element even of the most popular Toryism. 

In spite of Mr. Disraeli's attack upon Kitualism at a 
later period of his life, there was much in common between 
the Anglican revival and Young England ; Antiquam 
exquirite malrem was the motto of each. Both 



68 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIFLD. 

originated in the same source, the political and religious 
latitudinarianisra which followed the revolution con- 
sumated in 1832, as they follow all revolutions. Each 
aimed at a revival of faith, by setting up before the 
people a better system than the one which had collapsed, 
and recalling to their minds what had been the essential 
principles of the Church of England in the seventeenth, 
and of the Tory party in the eighteenth, century ; and the 
work in which Newman explains his own conception of 
the attempt in which he was engaged, might serve, 
mutatis mutandis, for an epitome of Mr. Disraeli's. 
'* It remains to be tried," wrote Newman, in 1837, 
" whether, what is called Anglo-Catholicism — the 
religion of Andrews, Laud, Hammond, Butler and 
Wilson — is capable of being professed, acted on, and 
maintained on a large sphere of action ; or whether it 
be a mere modification of a transition state of either 
Eomanism or popular Protestantism." So, in 1843, it 
remained to be tried — so, at least, thought Young 
England — whether the Toryism of the patriot King was 
capable of being professed, acted on, and maintained 
on a large sphere of action ; or whether it was a mere 
modification of either Absolutism or Venetianism. That 
the experiment has left a real and lasting impression on 
English politics, will be allowed, though its influence 
has been much more indirect and imperceptible than 
that of the Anglican movement ; and that it sprang 
from some want of which modern society was only half 
conscious, may fairly be inferred from the fact that 
between Disraeli and Carlyle there is a fundamental 
agreement in principle. The ** individual" of the one 
is only '* the hero " of the other. 



59 



CHAPTER IV. 

SIB ROBERT PEEL AND FREE TRADE. 

1845-52. 

First direct attack on Peel — The Post OflBce scandal — Debate en 
agricultural distress — Tour on the Continent — Disraeli's econo- 
mical policy — Fall of Peel's administration — Visit to Belvoir 
Castle — Disraeli leader of the Opposition — Reconstruction of the 
Conservative party — Speech on the Burdens upon Land — Success 
of Disraeli's tactics — Social incidents — The Life of Lord George 
Bentinck — The first Derby ministry — Bitterness of the Opposition 
— Successes of the Government — The London Press — Result of 
the general election — The Budget — Defeat of the Government. 

I HAVE referred to Mr. Disraeli's speech on the Irish 
Arms Bill in 1843, when he wondered why the descen- 
dants of the Cavaliers should persist in governing Ire- 
land on the principles of the Puritans. In February 
1844, he spoke on Ireland again, when he uttered the 
memorable words, ** An absentee aristocracy, an alien 
church, and a starving population — that is the Irish 
question." But it was in June 1844 that he made his 
first direct attact upon Sir Robert Peel, and began the 



60 LIFE OF LOBB BFACONSFIELD, 

battle, the wounds inflicted in which have scarcely 
healed yet. 

The speech of the 17th of June was on the Sugar 
Duties. In the same session Ministers had been beaten 
on a motion of Lord Ashley's, and Sir Robert had com- 
pelled the House to rescind its vote. They were beaten 
a second time on the Sugar Duties by Mr. Mills, when 
the House was again condemned to a similar act of 
self-abasement. Disraeli now reminded Sir Robert of 
what he had said in 1841, namely, that he had never 
joined in the anti-slavery cry, and would not then join 
in the cheap sugar cry. He had now, said the speaker, 
joined in both, but there was one place where his 
ancient predilections were still allowed full play, and 
that was on the benches just behind him. " There the 
gang is still assembled, and there the thong of the whip 
still sounds.^' 

The next session, 1845, was an eventful one. It 
began with the famous *'Post Office Scandal," and 
included a great debate on agricultural distress, and 
another on the Maynooth Grant. Mr. Disraeli spoke 
on all three, but it was rather to the conduct of Sir 
Robert Peel than to the merits of the question that he 
addressed himself in each case. In the previous year a 
complaint had been made to Parliament that the letters 
of Mazziui and others had been opened at the General 
Post Office by order of the Home Secretary. A com- 
mittee of inquiry was appointed, but their report was 
considered so unsatisfactory, that in 1845 Mr. T. Dun- 
combe, who had moved for the first committee, moved 
for another. The motion was defeated by a large majo- 
rity, and he then returned to the charge by demanding 
the production of the Post Office books. He was again 
beaten. But Mr. Disraeli supported him on both occa- 



SIB ROBERT PEEL AND FREE TRADE. 61 

sions, and reproached the Prime Minister with making 
a party question of what had nothing to do with party. 
Some ministers, he said, might be excused for acting 
in this manner. One who had a very small majority, 
or none at all, might think it necessary to exact strict 
obedience. But Sir Robert Peel might be more in- 
dulgent. He occupied an impregnable position. He 
had no need of a coalition. He had got his own 
majority behind him, and he had appropriated the 
principles of the Opposition. "The Right Honour- 
able gentleman had caught the Whigs bathing and 
walked away with their clothes.'* He had nothing 
to fear from either side. He had the votes of one 
and the principles of the other. The sarcasm has 
always seemed to me to have been rather dragged in 
by the head and shoulders ; but at the time it was 
irresistible. 

About a fortnight afterwards, on the 17th of March, 
followed the debate on Agricultural Distress. It was 
moved by Mr. Mills ** that in the application of surplus 
revenue towards relieving the burdens of the country, 
due regard should be had to the necessity of affording 
relief to the agricultural interest." In his speech on 
this occasion^ Mr. Disraeli was delivered of one of the 
most finished and pointed satires which ever fell from 
his lips. Referring to Sir Robert's change of tone 
towards the agricultural interest, he said : — 

There is no doubt a difference in the right honourable gentleman's 
demeanour as Leader of the Opposition and as Minister of the Crown. 
But that 's the old stoi'y ; you must not contrast too strongly 
the hours of courtship with the years of possession. 'Tis very true 
that the right honourable gentleman's conduct is different. I 
remember him making his protection speeches. They were the best 
speeches I ever heard. It was a great thing to hear the right 
honourable say, " I would rather be the leader of the gentlemen of 



62 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 

England than possess the confidence of sovereigns." That was a 
grand thing. We don't hear much of the " gentlemen of England" 
Qow. But what of that ? They have the pleasures of memory, the 
charm of reminiscences. They were his first love, and though he 
may not kneel to them now as in the hour of passion, still they can 
recall the past ; and nothing is more useless or unwise than these 
scenes of crimination and reproach, for we know that in all these 
cases, when the beloved object has ceased to charm, it is in vain to 
appeal to the feelings. You know that this is true. Every man, 
almost, has gone through it. My honourable friends reproach the 
right honourable gentleman. The right honourable gentleman does 
what he can to keep them quiet ; he sometimes takes refuge in arro- 
gant silence, and sometimes he treats them with haughty frigidity ; 
and if they knew anything of human nature, they would take the hint 
and shut their mouths. But they won't. And what then happens ? 
What happens under all such circumstances ? The right honourable 
gentleman being compelled to interfere, sends down his valet, who 
says in the genteelest manner, " We can have no whining here I " And 
that. Sir, is exactly the case of the great agricultural interest — that 
beauty which everybody wooed, and one deluded. There is a fatality 
in such charms, and we now seem to approach the catastrophe of her 
career. Protection appears to be in about the same condition that 
Protestantism was in 1828. The country will draw its moral. For 
my part, if we are to have Free Trade, I, who honour genius,, prefer 
that such measures should be proposed by the honourable member for 
Stockport (Mr. Cobden) than, by one who, through skilful parliamen- 
tary manoeuvres, has tampered with the generous confidence of a 
great people, and of a great party. For myself, I care not what may 
be the result. Dissolve, if you please, the Parliam,ent you have 
betrayed, and appeal to the people, who, I believe, misllust you. For 
me there remains this, at least, the opportunity of expressing thus 
publicly my belief that a Conservative Government is an organized 
hypocrisy. 

The valet was Mr. Sidney Herbert, and the sting 
was never either forgotten or forgiven. 

Disraeli's opposition to the Maynooth Grant, accord- 
ing to his own statement, broke up the Young Eng- 
land party, but his speech on the second reading is 
remarkable rather for an excursus on Party government 
than for any views which it contains on the question 
of Eoman Catholic endowment. He warns Sir Robert 



SIB ROBERT PEEL AND FREE TRADE. 63 

Peel that he is breaking up the system of Party, and 
that the destruction of Party means the destruction of 
Parliamentary government. There was plenty to be 
said, he added, against the Party system, only he 
cautioned the House not to undermine it with their 
eyes shut, and without seeing what they were about. 
The breach between the minister and the able and 
audacious mutineer who was rapidly forming a party 
of his own was now complete, and when, in the 
following year Sir Robert abandoned Protection 
altogether, even those who had condemned Mr. Dis- 
raeli^s personalities were compelled to acknowledge 
his foresight. 

In the autumn of 1845, Mr. Disraeli went abroad again, 
and took a house for a month or two at Cassel, where 
he found bad accommodation but a fine country and 
excellent cookery. '* Our cook," he wrote to his sister, 
** stews pigeons in the most delicious way ; eggs, cloves, 
and onions in a red brown sauce, a dish of the time of 
the Duke of Alva." He returned by Paris in December, 
when he had an audience of the King and Queen, and 
met Washington Irving, whom he thought vulgar and 
stupid. It was while he was at Paris that he heard of 
the Ministerial crisis in England, and as the letters to 
his sister break off at this point, we presume he lost no 
time in returning to the scene of action. 

There is here a gap in the correspondence, which, 
with one exception, extends to the beginning of 1848, 
and we must now turn to the Life of Lord George Ben- 
tinck for Mr. Disraeli's own version of the great Free 
Trade struggle. This book was not published till 1852. 
But we must avail ourselves of its contents in tracing 
the career of Mr. Disraeli, through the two momentous 
years which intervene between the autumn of 1846 and 



64 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 

the autumn of 1848. Not that we need linger on them 
very long. Disraeli took up the position from the first, 
not that Free Trade was in the abstract indefensible, for 
his great heroes, Bolingbroke, Shelburne, and Pitt had 
been Free Traders, but that Sir Robert Peel had first of 
all betrayed his party and afterwards insulted it; had 
violated the understanding on which he had been placed 
in power, and then reproached and derided his followers 
for adhering to the lessons which he himself had taught 
them. It is true that Disraeli was opposed then, and 
was opposed to the last, to the unconditional system of 
Free Trade which was preached by the Anti-Corn Law 
League, and which had for its avowed object the transfer 
of political power from the territorial to the commercial 
aristocracy. But the purely economic aspects of the 
question he always thought of secondary importance. To 
understand his views fully we must go back to his earlier 
speeches. Even in 1843 he told his constituents at 
Shrewsbury: *' Your corn laws are only the outwork of a 
great system^ fixed and established upon your territorial 
property ; and the only object the Leaguers have, in 
making themselves masters of the outwork, is that they 
may easily overcome the citadel.^' On the 20lh Feb- 
ruary 1846, on the proposal to go into Committee of 
the whole House to consider the question of the Corn 
Laws, he said : — 

I know that we have been told, and by one who, on this subject, 
should be the highest authority, that we shall derive from this great 
struggle not merely the repeal of the Corn Laws, but the transfer of 
power from one class to another — to one distinguished for. its intelli- 
gence and wealth — the manufacturers of England. 

And it was against this transfer that he always took up 

his parable, 

I repeat what I have repeated before, that in this country there are 
special reasons why we should not only maintain the balance between 



SIB ROBERT FEEL AND FREE TRADE. 65 

the t-wo branches of our national industry, but why we should giye a 
preponderance — I do not say a predominance, which was the word 
ascribed by the honourable member for Manchester to the noble lord 
the member for London, but which he never used — why we should 
give a preponderance, for that is the proper and constitutional word, 
to the agricultural branch And the reason is, because in England 
we have a territorial constitution. We have thrown upon the land 
the revenues of the Church, the administration of justice, and the 
estate of the poor ; and this has been done not to gratify the pride, 
or pamper the luxury, of the proprietors of the land, but because in a 
territorial constitution you, and those whom you have succeeded, have 
found the only security for self-government, the only barrier against 
that centralising system which has taken root in other countries. 

The importance of our ** territorial constitution " is 
the key-note of his economical policy. His speeches 
are full of it. And when Sir Eobert Peel said that he 
would rather be the leader of the country gentlemen of 
England than possess the confidence of princes, he 
must have entertained the same high opinion of it as 
Mr. Disraeli did. Mr. Gladstone has also given us his 
own version of the uses of a landed aristocracy, and here 
it is: — 

We think that we ought to look forward to bringing about a state 
of things in which the landlords of Ireland may assume, or may more 
generally assume, the position which is happily held as a class by 
landlords in this country — a position marked by residence, by per- 
sonal familiarity, and by sympathy among the people with whom they 
live, by long traditional connection handed on from generation to 
generation, and marked by a constant dischai'ge of duty in every form 
that can be suggested — be it as to the administration of justice, be it 
as to the defence of the country, be it as to the supply of social, or 
or spiritual, or moral, or educational wants ; be it for any pur- 
pose whatever that is recognised as good or beneficial in a civilised 
society.* 

Whether Protective Duties were necessary to the 
support of the class whose existence is so beneficial to 

* House of Commons, February 17th, 1870. Speech on Irish Land 
Act. 



66 LIFE OF LOBD BEACONSFIFLD. 

society is another question, and Mr. Disraeli would 
certainly not have insisted on the affirmative. All he 
said was that if the Corn Law of 1815 were repealed, 
the land must be relieved of those peculiar burdens for 
which Protection was supposed to compensate. And 
the justice of this view seems now to be admitted by all 
parties. 

Disraeli's speeches on Free Trade and the Agricultural 
interest, extending from January 1846 to February 1851, 
are remarkable for their breadth and foresight. He, 
from the first, scouted Oobden's idea that the rest of the 
world would follow the example of England, pointing 
out very pertinently that the rest of the world did not 
subordinate every other national consideration to political 
economy, and he also uttered a prophecy which thirty 
years afterwards he had the gloomy satisfaction of seeing 
fulfilled .— 

It may be vain now, in the midniglit of their intoxication, to tell 
them that there will be an awakening of bitterness ; it may be idle 
now, in the springtide of their economic frenzy, to warn them that 
there may be an ebb of trouble. But the dark and. inevitable hoar 
will arrive. Then, when their spirit is softened by misfortune, they 
will recur to those principles that made England great, and which, 
in our belief, can alone keep England great. Then, too, perchance, 
they may remember, not with unkindness, those who, betrayed and 
deserted, were neither ashamed nor afraid to struggle for the " good 
old cause " — the cause with which are associated principles the most 
popular, sentiments the most entirely national, the cause of labour, 
the cause of the people — the cause of England. 

Mr. Bright said of this speech it was the finest he 
had ever heard. It was delivered on the 15th of May 
1846, on the third reading of the Corn Importation 
Bill, and in the spring of 1879, exactly one generation 
afterwards. Lord Beaconsfield was called upon to an- 
swer a motion in the House of Lords praying for a 



SIB EOBEBT PEEL AND FREE TRADE. 67 

Royal Commission to enquire into the distressed state of 
agriculture. "The dark and inevitable hour" had at 
last arrived. But, as he then told his complainants, it was 
too late. We could not retrace our steps. The country 
had decided after due deliberation, and by that decision 
we were bound. 

Tt was at half-past one o'clock on the morning of 
Friday. June 26, 1846, that the division was taken 
on the Irish Coercion Bill which put an end to Sir 
Robert Peel's Administration, and of which so vivid a 
picture has been left us in the Life of Lord George 
Bentinch, 

But it was not merely their numbers that attracted the anxious 
observation of the Treasury Bench as the Protectionists passed in 
defile before the Minister to the hostile lobby. It was impossible that 
he could have marked them without emotion, the flower of that great 
party which had been so proud to follow one who had been so proud 
to lead them. They were men to gain whose hearts, and the hearts 
of their fathers, had been the aim and exultation of his life. They 
had extended to him an unlimited confidence, and an admiration 
without stint. They had stood by him in the darkest hour, and had 
borne him from the depths of political despair to the proudest of 
living positions. Right or w^rong, they were men of honour, breed- 
ing, and refinement, high and generous character, great weight and 
station in the country, which they had ever placed at his disposal. 
They had been not only his followers but his friends, had joined in the 
same pastimes, drunk from the same cup, and in the pleasantness of 
private life had often forgotten together the cares and strife of politics. 
He must have felt something of this while the Manners, the Somersets, 
the Bentincks, the Lowthers, and the Lennoxes passed before him. And 
those country gentlemen, those gentlemen of England, of whom but 
five years ago the very same building was ringing with his pride of 
being the leader — if his heart were hardened to Sir Charles Burrell, 
Sir William Jolliffe, Sir Charles Knightly, Sir John Trollope, Sir 
Edward Kerrison, Sir John Tyrrell, he surely must have had a 
pang when his eye rested on Sir John Yarde Bullcr, his choice and 
pattern country gentleman, whom he had himself selected and invited 
but six years back to move a vote of want of confidence in the Whig 
Government, in order, against the feeling of the Court to install Sir 

6 ^ 



68 LIFE OF LOBD BEACONSFIELD. 

Robert Peel in their stead. They trooped on : all the men of metal 
and large-acred squires whose spirit he had so often quickened, 
and whose counsel he had so often solicited in his fine Conseryative 
speeches in Whitehall Gardens: Mr. Bankes, with a parliamentary 
name of two centuries ; and Mr. Christopher from that broad Lin- 
colnshire which Protection had created ; and the Mileses and the Hen- 
leys were there; and the Buncombes, the Liddells, and the Yorkes ; 
and Devon had sent there the stout heart of Mr. Buck, and Wiltshire 
the pleasant presence of Walter Long. Mr. Newdegate was there, 
whom Sir Robert had himself recommended to the confidence of the 
electors of Warwickshire, as one of whom he had the highest hopes ; 
and Mr. Alderman Thompson was there, who, also through Sir 
Robert's selection, had seconded the assault upon the Whigs, led on 
by Sir John Buller. But the list is too long, or good names remain 
behind. 

The Government were beaten by a majority of seventy- 
three. When Sir Eobert was told, as he sat upon the 
Treasury Bench before the numbers were announced, 
** he dii;l not reply, or even turn his head. He looked 
very grave and extended his chin, as was his habit when 
he was annoyed, and cared not to speak. He began to 
comprehend his position, and that the Emperor was 
without his army." 

During the recess Disraeli paid a visit to the Duke 

of Rutland at Belvoir Castle, which he seems then to 

have seen for the first time. On the 10th of August 

he writes to his sister : — 

I tliought you would like to have a line from Beaumanoir, though 
it is not in the least like Beaumanoir, but Coningsby Castle to the 
very life ; gorgeous Gothic of a quarter of a century past, and slopes 
and shrubberies like Windsor ; the general view, however, notwith- 
standing the absence of the Thames, much finer. Granby and myself 
arrived here in a fly on Thursday, and were received by two rows of 
servants, bowing as we passed, which very much reminded me of the 
arrival of Coningsby himself. Nothing can be more amiable than the 
family here, agreeable and accomplished besides. George Bentinck 
went off this morning at dawn, the Duke of Richmond on Saturday. 
On that day we rode over to Harlaxton Manor, a chateau of Francois 
I.'s time, now erecting by a Mr. Gregory. Yesterday, after the pri- 



SIB ROBERT PEEL AND FREE TRADE. 69 

vate chapel, we lionised the Castle, which I prefer to Windsor, as the 
rooms, in proportion to the general edifice, ai'e larger and more mag- 
nificent. Afterwards to the Belvoir kennel, which itself required a 
day. 



At the General Election of 1847, Mr. Disraeli, as we 
have seen, was returned for Buckinghamshire, and in a 
speech delivered at Aylesbury on the 26th of June, he 
drew that distinction between Liberal opinions and 
popular principles, of which his subsequent career 
afforded many singular illustrations. 

For one session Lord George Bentinck, chiefly through 
the exertions of Disraeli, was the leader of the Protec- 
tionist party. But the vote which he gave in 1847 in 
favour of the Jew Bill cost him his place, or rather 
evoked remonstrances which led to his resignation of it. 
Lord Stanley was consulted on the choice of his suc- 
cessor, but refused to interfere, and ultimately, ac- 
cording to Greville, the choice fell upon Lord Granby. 
But he seems to have been a roi faineant. Lord George 
Bentinck at the opening of next session took his seat 
below the gangway, Disraeli still retaining his own on 
the front Opposition bench ; but the Opposition was in 
reality ** acephalous " as Greville calls it. Throughout 
this session there was no practical chief. But Disraeli 
was rapidly showing that there could be only one. On 
the 20th August he made a speech on Foreign Policy, 
which even Greville, an unwilling witness, allows to 
have been a '* very brilliant one." Ten days afterwards 
he spoke again, on the '* Labours of the session,' and it 
was this speech to which he himself always attributed 
his being invested with the leadership after the death of 
Lord George Bentinck. This took place in September 
1848, and had Lord Granby really been leader, Lord 



70 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIFLD. 

George's death would have made no difference — would 
have occasioned no necessity, that is, for choosing a new 
one. Such however, was its consequence. And on 
January 1849 the party met for that purpose. Lord 
Granby himself was one of the first to propose Disraeli. 
The Duke of Newcastle, the Duke of Kichmond, Mr. 
Miles, and Mr. Bankes, are also named in his letter 
to his sister, as having urged his qualifications on 
Lord Stanley. Disraeli himself says " the only awk- 
ward thing now is Stanley's position in consequence of 
his first rash letter." That letter may he conjectured to 
have been the one which he wrote when applied to the 
year before on the resignation of Lord G. Bentinck. 
At page 165 of vol. iii. of the Croker Papers is to be 
found a letter from Lord George Bentinck to Croker, of 
the date of March 2nd, 1848, from which it might be 
inferred that Lord Stanley was at that time opposed to 
the pretensions of Mr. Disraeli. Lord George, after a 
high encomium on Mr. Disraeli's oratory, records his 
conviction that, "in spite of Lord Stanley" and others, 
it will end in Disraeli being leader of the party before 
two sessions are over. The prediction was fulfilled in 
less than half the time. And Lord Stanley very soon 
saw that he was the right man in the right place, and 
for the remainder of his life never failed on every 
occasion to do justice to his genius and his character. 

In 1849, then, he took his seat in the House of 
Commons as the acknowledged Leader of the Oppo- 
sition ; and now began his great work — the recon- 
struction of the Conservative Party. The following 
is his own account of the steps which he took for 
that purpose. After the General Election of 1847, 
the number of supporters on whom the Leader of the 
Opposition could rely hardly exceeded one hundred and 



SIB BOBEBT PEEL AND FBEE TBADE, 71 

fifty. On his motion on Irish Eailways, in 1848, the 
great trial of strength for the session, Lord George 
Bentinck only carried a hundred and eighteen members 
into the lobby with him. But there were still more 
than a hundred Peelites who belonged to the landed 
interest, and who, on all subjects but one, were still 
thorough -going Conservatives. To accustom them to 
find themselves in the same lobby with their former 
associates was Disraeli^s first object, and he began with 
a motion for a Select Committee to inquire into the 
** Burdens upon Land/' on the unequal pressure of 
taxation on the agricultural classes. The existence of 
considerable distress among the farmers was admitted 
on both sides of the House. The Peelites, as country 
gentlemen, were deeply interested in obtaining compen- 
sation for their tenantry. Any project of this kind, 
undarkened by the shadow of Protection, they were 
bound to support ; and when the division took place 
it justified Mr. Disraeli's foresight, as it gave him an 
increase of forty votes over the best division which the 
Conservatives had to show since the dissolution. The 
speech which he made upon this occasion is perhaps the 
most truly eloquent of all his great speeches on the 
subject. Tt breathes what are rarely found together, 
genuine feeling combined with brilliant rhetoric. 

The agriculturists [he said] have not forgotten that they have been 
spoken of in terms of contempt by Ministers of State — ay, even by a 
son of one of their greatest houses : a house that always loves the 
land, and that the land still loves. They have not forgotten that 
they have been held up to public odium and reprobation bj-^ trium- 
phant demagogues. They have not forgotten that their noble 
industry, which in the old days was considered the invention of gods 
and the occupation of heroes, has been stigmatised and denounced as 
an incubus upon English enterprise. They have not forgotten that 
even the very empire that was created by the valour and the devotion 



72 LIFE OF LOED BEACONSFIELD. 

of their fathers has been held up to public hatred, as a cumbersome 
and ensanguined machinery, only devised to pamper the luxury and 
feed the rapacity of our territorial houses. 

You think that you may trust their proverbial loyalty. Trust 
their loyalty, but do not abuse it. Their conduct to you has exhibited 
no hostile feeling, notwithstanding the political changes that have 
abounded of late years, and all apparently to a diminution of their 
powers. They have inscribed a homely sentence on their rural ban- 
ners ; but it is one which, if I mistake not. is already again touching 
the heart and convincing the reason of England—" Live and Let Live." 

Your system and theirs are exactly contrary. They invite " union." 
They believe that national prosperity can only be produced by the 
prosperity of all classes. You prefer to remain in isolated splendour 
and solitary magnificence. But, believe me, I speak not as your 
enemy, when I say that it will be an exception to the principles which 
seera hitherto to have ruled society, if you can succeed in maintaining 
the success at which you aim without the possession of that perma- 
nence and stability which the territorial principle alone can afford. 
Although you may for a moment flourish after their destruction — 
although your ports may be filled with shipping, your factories 
smoke on every plain, and your forges flame in every city — I see no 
reason why you should form an exception to that which the page of 
history has mournfully recorded : that you, too, should not fade like the 
Tyrian dye, and moulder like the Venetian palaces. But united with 
the land, you will obtain the best and surest foundation upon which 
to build your enduring welfare. You will find in that interest a coun- 
sellor in all your troubles, in danger your undaunted champion, and 
in adversity your steady customer. It is to assist in producing this 
result, Sir, that I am about to place these resolutions in your hands. 
I wish to see the agriculture, the commerce, and the manufactures of 
England, not adversaries, but co-mates and partners, and rivals only 
in the ardour of their patriotism and in the activity of their public 
spirit. 



In the following year, on the 19th of February 1850, he 
returned to the charge with resolutions recommending 
a large remission of local taxation. On this occasion he 
enlisted the support of Mr. Gladstone, and, on a division, 
the numbers were 273 to 252, a majority of only 21. In 
1851, the agricultural distress being acknowledged in the 
Queen's Speech, Mr. Disraeli on the IJwh of February, 



SIB EOBEBT FEEL AND FREE TRADE. 73 

moved that Ministers should be called on to introduce 
some remedial measures in conformity with the language 
which they had advised Her Majesty to employ ; and on 
this occasion the Ministerial majority sank as low as 
fourteen — 267 members following Mr. Disraeli's banner, 
and 281 the Government. The Opposition strength 
had now risen from 189 in 1849 to 267 in 1851. Lord 
John Russell became anxious to escape from a position 
which was no longer either necessary to the public or 
creditable to himself, and he seized the opportunity 
presented by his defeat on the County Franchise ques- 
tion, to place his resignation in Her Majesty's hands. 
The Queen sent for Lord Derby, who, not without some 
slur, as it was thought, upon his own colleagues in both 
Houses, declined to take office, and the Whigs held on 
for another session. 

But Mr. Disraeli had achieved his task. He had 
raised the Conservative Party from the dust, and 
restored its energy, its self-respect, and its status in the 
country as a great political connection. And he had 
done this under disadvantages such as no other states- 
man engaged in a similar undertaking had ever experi- 
enced before. Sir Robert Peel's reconstruction of the 
party after 1832 certainly cannot be compared to it. 
Half the great statesmen whom the country had looked 
up to for years were his colleagues or confederates. 
The Church, disgusted by the ecclesiastical policy of 
the Whigs, was on his side to a man. Popular distress 
resulting in Chartism, also told against the Government. 
In 1848 every one of these advantages was on the other 
side. The experienced Conservative statesmen whom 
Peel had trained to affairs stood sullenly aloof; a large 
and influential section of the Church of England believed 
itself represented by these gentlemen. The agricultural 



74 LIFE OF LOUD BEACONSFIELD, 

distress whicli undoubtedly prevailed at that time made 
the victorious interests of the country still more jealous 
of Lord Derbv. In the teeth of these difficulties, 
he had restored to the shattered and dispirited rem- 
nant which still called itself the Conservative Party, 
something like the dimensions, the cohesion, and the 
dignity of a regular Opposition, who were now not 
unwilling to try a fall v^ith their opponents, or to 
take the judgment of the country on their respective 
merits. 

In 1850 and 1851 the letters to Sarah Disraeli contain 
a good deal of social matter as well as political, that is of 
much interest. In January he went again to Belvoir, 
where he seems to have witnessed, for the first time, the 
spectacle of the hunting-men dining in their redcoats. 
From Belvoir he went on to Burghley, which he 
admired very much. " The exterior of Burghley is 
faultless, so vast, and so fantastic, and in such fine 
condition, that the masonry seems but of yesterday. 
In the midst of a vast park, ancient timber in profu- 
fusion, gigantic oaks of the days of the Lord 
Treasurer, and an extensive lake. The plate mar- 
vellous." By the end of March he was at Hugbenden, 
where some hitch seems to have occurred in his Par- 
liamentary position. He writes, *' If I cannot lead the 
party after the holidays, I had better retire altogether.'^ 
This probably refers to some obscure party discussion, 
which is now forgotten, though no doubt men were 
busy at work trying to trip him up during the whole 
three years which preceded 1852. In May we find 
him at the house of Sir William Jolliffe near Petersfield, 
" a beautiful home, and a still more beautiful family 
of all ages from three to twenty, and all good-look- 

iDg." 



SIB ROBERT PEEL AND FREE TRADE. 75 

Tn September 1850 he receives two immeTise chests 
from the Duke of Portland, containing Lord George 
Bentinck's papers, and iu October he has made a good 
start with the Biograpliy. His letters are dated from 
Huglicnden, and tell of the beautiful autumn, and the 
gorgeous tints of the beech-woods which girdled his 
country home. 

In January 1851, Lord Stanley, the present Lord 
Derby, came to stay with him in Bucking])amshire, 
and found it very charming " after Lancashire." 
At this time, Mr. and Mrs. Disraeli, oddly enough, 
kept no horses, and the statesman and his guest had 
to make their excursion on foot. They visited Great 
Hampden, Wycombe Abbey, Denner Hill, and other 
places of interest, and returned to town for the 
meeting of Parliament in February. In a letter dated 
February 26th, there is an allusion to the speech of 
the 11th, v/hich has been already described, coupled 
with an anecdote of Croker, which reminds one of 
ConiiigHhy. " Croker met me and nearly embraced 
me. I hardly recognised him. He said the speech 
was * the speech of a statesmen, and the reply was 
the reply of a wit.' How very singular,*' adds the 
writer. After the portrait of Mr. Rigby, it certainly 
was. 

The Life of Lord George was published at the end 
of December 1851, and independently of the great 
interest attaching to the political career of this very 
singular man, the work contains a portrait of Sir 
Robert Peel which has often been thought the painter's 
masterpiece, and a chapter on the Jews, in which he 
unfolds the views first propounded in Coningshij and 
Taiicred with even more precision, more earnestness, 
and greater power of argument than he places in the 



76 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIELD, 

mouth of Sidonia. He winds up the character of Peel 
in the followiDg memorable words : — 

One cannot say of Sir Robert Peel, notwithstanding his unrivalled 
powers of despatching affairs, that he was the greatest minister that 
this country ever produced, because, twice placed at the helm, and 
on the second occasion with the Court and the Parliament equally 
devoted to him, he never could maintain himself in power. Nor, 
notwithstanding his consummate parliamentary tactics, can he be 
described as the greatest party leader that ever flourished among us, 
for ho contrived to destroy the most compact, powerful, and devoted 
party that ever followed a British statesman. Certainly, notwith- 
standing his great sway in debate, we cannot recognize him as our 
greatest orator, for in many of the siipreme requisites of oratory he 
was singularly deficient. But what he really was, and what posterity 
will acknowledge him to have been, is the greatest Member of Parlia- 
ment that ever lived. 

He anticipates the conversion of the Jews, or rather, 
to use his own words, that they will accept the whole 
of their religion instead of only the half of it, as they 
giadually grow more familiar with the true history and 
character of the New Testament. And he lays great 
stress on the fact that the non-Christian Jews at the 
present day are for the most part descendants of the 
earlier exiles, whose ancestors never heard of Christ till 
centuries after the crucifixion, when His religion ap- 
proached them in the guise of a persecution. *' It is 
improbable," he thinks, *' that any descendants of the 
Jews of Palestine exist who disbelieve in Christ." His 
appeal to men of his own race is an example in his best 
. style : — 

Perhaps, too, in this enlightened age, as his mind expands, and he 
takes a comprehensive view of this period of progress, the pupil of 
Moses may ask himself whether all the princes of the house of David 
have done so much for the Jews as that Prince who was crucified on 
Calvary ? Had it not been for Him, the Jews would have been com- 
paratively unknown, op known only as a high Oriental caste which 
had lost its country. Has not He made their history the most famous 



SIB ROBERT PEEL AND FREE TRADE. 77 

in the world ? Has not He hung up their laws in every temple ? Has 
not He Yindicated all their wrongs ? Has not he avenged the victory 
of Titus and conquered the Caesars ? What successes did thej'- anti- 
cipate from their Messiah ? The wildest dreams of their rabbis have 
been far exceeded. Has not Jesus conquered Europe and changed 
its name into Christendom ? All countries that refuse the 
Cross wither, w4iile the whole of the New World is devoted to the 
Semitic principle and its most glorious offspring the Jewish faith ; and 
the time will come when the vast communities and countless myriads 
of America and Australia, looking upon Europe as Europe now looks 
upon Greece, and wondering how so small a space could have achieved 
such great deeds, will still find music in the songs of Sion and solace 
in the parables of Galilee. 

Disraeli did not think that Lord George Bentinck 
would have succeeded as a party leader. Though with- 
out vanity, he was remarkable for obstinacy. His 
mind, he said, had little flexibility. He was no orator, 
and his early education had not been of a kind to 
qualify him for Parliamentary distinction. His clear 
head, his strong memory, his wonderful powers of acqui- 
sition, and his undaunted courage and perseverance, 
made him a very useful leader of the Protectionists 
in the time of their trials, but would not have been 
sufficient for the permanent leadership of a party. 

In 1852 occurred the famous quarrel between Lord 
John Russell and Lord Palmerston on the subject of the 
Coup d'etaty followed by the retirement of the latter from 
the Foreign Office. Lord Palmerston did not mince mat- 
ters. He made no secret of his intention to " have his 
tit-for-tat with John Russell " — and an opportunity 
occurring on the Militia Bill, introduced by Government, 
he put him in a minority and out of office at the same 
time. Now comes the first Derby Ministry, and a very 
memorable chapter in Mr. Disraeli's life. The change 
of Government took place at the end of February, and 
the new arrangements were very speedily completed. 



78 LIFE OF LOBD BEACONSFIELD, 

Mr. Disraeli became Chancellor of the Exchequer 
and Leader of the House of Commons. His colleagues 
in the lower House were, with one or two exceptions, 
men whom he had silently singled out, during the past 
four or five years, as well qualified for office ; nor was 
his Iniowlt'dge of human nature at fault. In Mr. Henley 
and Sir John Pnkington especially he found two as 
able administrators as could be found among the 
veterans of the Opposition. It was unfortunate that 
Lord Derby was comparatively unacquainted with the 
personnel of his party in tlie lower House. It is said 
that of some of the gentlemen recommended by the 
leader of that assembly he had never even heard the 
names. Eleven of them were sworn in Privy Councillors 
on the same day. And it was owing to this circumstance 
tlmt Lord Derby always seemed to think it impossible 
that he could carry on a Government without the helj) 
of Mr. Gladstone or Lord PalmersLon. His followers 
were justly mortified, as may be read in the Memoirs of 
Lord Malmesbury, who now becomes our most trust- 
worthy authority for the Parliamentary history of the 
period. The new Chancellor of the Exchequer, however, 
had no such misgivings. He was in the highest spirits, 
and declared that " he felt like a girl going to her first 
ball." The ne\v Ministry was constituted as follows: — 

First Lord of the Treasury, Earl of Derby. 

Lord Chancellor, Lord St. Leonards. 

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Disraeli, 

President of Council, Earl of Lonsdale. 

Privy Seal, Marquis of Salisbury. 

Foreign Secretary, Earl of Malmesbury. 

Home Secretary, Mi . Spencer Walpole. 

First Lord of the Admiralty, The Duke of North- 
umberland. 



SIR ROBERT PEEL AND FREE TRADE, 79 

Colonial Secretary, Sir John Pakington. 
President of Board of Customs, Mr. Herries. 
First Commissioner of Works, Lord John Manners. 

These were the Cabinet. Mr. Henley was President 
of the Board of Control ; and the Law Officers of the 
Crown were Sir Frederick Thesiger and Sir Fitzroy 
Kelly. 

Tiie new Ministry ought not to have been the object 
of any special hostility. They had not taken office till 
it was forced upon them. The previous Administration 
was not turned out; it fell to pieces of its own accord. 
The change was not due to any personal intervention of 
the Sovereign, as in 1834, or to any stroke of party 
vengeance, as in 1846. The Ministry of Lord John 
Russell was too weak to carry on the Government, and 
nobody was better aware of the fact than Lord John 
Russell himself. He was even anxious to escape from 
his position, yet no sooner were the leaders of the Oppo- 
sition seated on the Treasury Bench than they were 
assailed by a fire of invective from Whigs, Peelites, and 
Radicals, as if they had been guilty of some gross breach 
of Parliamentary morality. Lord Derby, in 1851, had 
held out the olive branch to Mr. Gladstone. He had, 
with Mr. Disraeli's consent and approbation, off^ered the 
lead of the House of Commons to Lord Palmerston. 
Neither would join him, tliough neither could allege any 
difference of principle between himself and the new 
Prime Minister, except on the one question of the Corn 
Laws ; and the possibility of these being revived by two 
such men as Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli was too 
remote to have influenced the minds of any practical 
man. Their union with the Ministry would have 
brought the Conservatives the strength which they 



80 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 

required. But each, in fact, was playing for his own 
hand; and they judged, perhaps rightly, that the 
course of events was likely to bring the ball to their feet 
under more favourable circumstances than then pre- 
sented themselves. But this was no excuse for the 
iiood of vituperation poured upon the heads of the new 
Government by the Opposition and their organs in the 
press; and when remarks are made on the bitterness of 
Disraeli's satire, and the cutting irony in which he spoke 
of some at least of the Peelite leaders, we should do well 
to remember his provocation. Of the malignity of 
which he himself was the object, it is difficult to speak, 
even at this distance of tiuie, with common patience or 
forbearance. If it is said that he brought it on his 
own head by his treatment of Sir Robert Peel; the 
answer is that it is only among savages that the rights 
of revenge are held to be inexhaustible, and that in all 
civilised morality there is_, so to speak, a statute of limi- 
tations, under which the lecu talwf?is expires after a cer- 
tain time. Even with Juno's unrelenting hate Jupiter 
interferes at last. The more than feminine fury of the 
Peelites was alike insensible to justice and incapable of 
satiety; and knowing the splendid position which Lord 
Beaconsfield afterwards attained, and the love, honour, 
and troops of friends which attended him to his grave, 
it is difficult to note the language in which he was 
spoken of five and thirty years ago, and believe that we 
are reading of the same man, the same English people, 
and the same century. 

During the early part of the session of 1852, 
the Government was thought to have done well. 
They carried a Militia Bill which gave general satis- 
faction, and Mr. Disraeli astonished the world by 
the capacity which he displayed as Finance Minister, 



SIB ROBERT PEEL AND FREE TRADE. 81 

On the 30th of April he introduced his first 
Budget, which, says Greville, " was a great per- 
formance, very able, and received with great applause 
in the House." The frank acceptance of the prin- 
ciples of Free Trade which it contained gave offence 
to some of his supporters, and was denounced by the 
Opposition as an unparalleled act of tergiversation. 
But no one who had given any intelligent consideration 
to his speeches during the previous twenty years had 
any right to be surprised or shocked. He had always 
been in favour of Free Trade conducted upon equitable 
principles, which the principles of the League were not. 
He had quite recently declared that the country having 
deliberately endorsed the policy of Sir Robert Peel, the 
farmers^ friends must look for compensation rather than 
restitution."^ This was all he said -in the Budget. It 
was quite open to him to recognise the beneficial effects 
of Sir Robert PeeFs policy, without either condoning 
the means by which it had been carried out, or ignoring 
the injustice which it had inflicted on a large and most 
important interest. Mr. Disraeli said that this might 
be remedied without flinging back the injustice upon 
the shoulders of any other class. And the local 
taxation reformers of 1888, including men of all parties 
in their ranks, are only saying the same thing. 

However, Mr. Disraeli had made himself a great 
many enemies among the Peelites, who had great 
literary talent at their commtind : and he also had the 
Press against him. By far the two most influential 
daily papers of that date were the Times and the 
Alovjiing Chronicle j of which the one was anti -Con- 
servative and the other Peelite to the core. The Moj'fi- 

* Speech in House of Commons, March 8, 1849. 

6 



82 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIFLD, 

ing Post and the Globe were Palmerstonian, and the 
only regular Conservative daily which then existed was 
the Morniny Herald, hardly less unfriendly to Mr. 
Disraeli than any of the other four. Among them he 
had no chance ; and it is a wonderful tribute to his 
genius that with these formidable odds against him the 
battle should have been doubtful for a moment, and that 
even from a class of adversaries who rarely err on the 
side of magnanimity he should have extorted, in spite 
of tbemselve's, a reluctant eulogy. 

In July 1852 Parliament was dissolved, and a final 
appeal was made to the country to decide whether it 
would continue " to fight hostile tariffs with free 
imports," or pronounce for what is known as Reciprocity. 
The Conservative candidates won a great many seats- — 
some because they were Protectionists, others because they 
were Conservatives, and because the public began to be 
afraid of Lord John Russell and his new Reform Bill : 
but they did not win enough, as the sequel will show ; and 
they had to deal with old Parliamentary hands who 
knew well how to strike when the iron was hot. They 
perceived that if the Chancellor could be forced to make 
his financial statement before the expiration of the 
year, it would be morally impossible for him not to 
propose something for the farmers, which, in all proba- 
bility, they would be able to use against him. What 
they foresaw came to pass. 

Mr. Disraeli always regretted that his Party had been 
obliged to take office at the particular momeut when 
they did. In another year the agricultural distress which 
had prompted his great speeches in 1849, 1850, and 1851, 
would have passed away. Could the dissolution of 
Parliament have been postponed for another nine months, 
it would have been unnecessary to say anything about 



SIB ROBERT PEEL AND FREE TRADE. 83 

it, and many Conservative Free Traders would have 
given their votes for Lord Derby. Even could the finan- 
cial statement have been deferred to its usual period, 
the month of April 1853, he used to say that a Budget 
might have been framed which the House of Commons 
would have accepted. But the Opposition saw this as 
well as he did, and forced his hand. They professed 
the most violent alarm lest the Corn Laws were about 
to be revived. The Anti-Corn Law League resumed 
its sittings, and assumed something of the functions 
and importance of a vigilance committee. The Grovern- 
ment were compelled to call Parliament together in 
November. Kesolutions re-affirming the principles of 
Free Trade were flung in the face of the Ministry, 
and it became clear to Mr. Disraeli that he had better 
declare his financial policy and take his chance, than 
provoke a vote of want of confidence, which would 
almost certainly have been carried against him, or 
lost by so small a majority as to have destroyed the 
moral influence of the Government. 

Accordingly, on the 3rd of December 1852, he pro- 
duced the Budget, which gave the Opposition their 
expected opportunity. Its chief features were — the 
remission of half the malt tax; the gradual remission 
of half the tea duty ; the assessment of income tax on 
one third of the farmer's rental instead of one half; the 
extension of income tax to incomes of dBlOO a year of 
precarious income, and to ^650 a year of permanent 
income; the extension of the house tax to houses of 
£10 a year rateable value, and an increase of the assess- 
ment to Is. 6d. in the pound on houses, and Is. on shops, 
the whole produce being calculated at £1,723,000. 

Being compelled to make his statement in December, 
instead of in the following April, the reduction of the 

6 * 



84 LIFE OF LORD BBAC0N8FIFLB. 

malt tax and the alteration in the assessment of the in- 
come tax on agricultural incomes were forced upon him, 
and to compensate for these remissions he was com- 
pelled to resort to the unpopular provisions above men- 
tioned, the extension, namely, of the house tax and the 
income tax. 

The speech in which Mr. Disraeli replied to his critics 
was delivered on the 16th of December, and, together 
with Mr. Gladstone's answer to it, will long be memo- 
rable. He was convinced to the last, and probably 
with justice, that the coalition was aimed against him- 
self, and he used to compare his position in 1852 with 
that of Lord Shelburne in 1783. It was the recollec- 
tion, indeed, of that historic crisis which inspired his 
famous words : '* This I know, that England does not 
love coalitions," and encouraged him, perhaps, to utter the 
prediction which was not long in being fulfilled. But 
he had in the course of his speech referred to Sir James 
Graham in terms which seem to have been misun- 
derstood on the Opposition benches, and afforded Mr. 
Gladstone an opportunity of delivering an indignant 
rejoinder, which had a great effect upon the House. It 
was thought that but for this, Ministers might have 
secured a small majority. As it was, the Coalition 
counted 305 against the Ministerial 286, and Lord 
Derby immediately resigned. He was succeeded, after a 
period of complicated negotiations, by Lord Aberdeen. 

The party, however, had scarcely expected to retain 
office. They had considerably increased their number 
by the general election. They now reckoned nearly 
three hundred bayonets. They had held office with 
credit, had exhibited great administrative abilities, and 
had taught the public to respect them. They were no 
longer a despised remnant, afraid to meet their enemy in 



SIB ROBERT PEEL AND FREE TRADE. 85 

the gate. They were a powerful and well-disciplined 
party, and the proper functions of an Opposition, which 
had been too long in abeyance in the House of Com- 
mons, were once more re-established. 

All Lord Derby's doubts had now vanished, and hence- 
forth he fully justified the saying of Mr. Disraeli, that 
*' an aristocracy hesitates before it yields its confidence, 
but never does so grudgingly. Under such circum- 
stances, the social feeling and the principle of honour 
which governs gentlemen mingle in political connec- 
tions." Lord Derby gave his entire and cordial con- 
fidence to his able lieutenant in the House of Commons, 
and the Derby-Disraeli connection remained intact 
until the hour of Lord Derby's death. 



86 LIFE OF LOEB BFAC0N8FIFLD. 



CHAPTER V. 

ME. DISRAELI AND LORD DERBY. 

1852-1868. 

The Press newspaper — Funeral oration oyer the Duke of WellingtoD 
— Divisions in the Cabinet — Mr. Disraeli's irony at its expense — 
Refusal of Lord Derby to take office — Tactics of the Conser- 
vative party in Opposition — The China debate — Defeat of the 
Palmerston Government — The second Derby Administration — 
The Ellenborough despatch — The Reform Bill — Resignation of 
Ministers — The Conservatives in Opposition — Earl Russell's 
foreign policy — Church and Queen — Mr. Disraeli's financial 
speeches — The career and defeat of Earl Russell's Government — 
The Reform Bills — Mr. Disraeli leader of the party. 

Such was the position of Mr. Disraeli and his party 
when they resumed their seats on the Opposition 
benches in January 1853. And Mr. Disraeli now made 
it the business of his life to expose the hollowness of 
the foundation on which the Coalition rested. His prin- 
cipal speeches in Parliament were all directed to this 
end, and in the summer of 1853 he established for the 
same purpose the Press newspaper. 

The Press was a weekly newspaper on the model of 
the Anti-Jacobitij and designed to write down the ob- 
noxious Coalition. The first number appeared in the 
summer of 1853, and it remained under the direction 



MB. BISKAELI AND LORD BEBBY. 87 

of Mr. Disraeli till 1858, when it was sold to Mr. 
Newdegate. When I first knew anything of the Press 
it was edited by Mr. Samuel Lucas, for many years 
connected with the literary department of the Times, 
assisted by Mr. Shirley Brooks as the writer of squibs 
and verses, and by Mr Disraeli himself and the pre- 
sent Lord Derby as leader writers. Mr. Disraeli wrote 
the first leading article in the first number, in which 
the head of the Coalition is styled " an austere in- 
triguer,'' and the then Lord Stanley continued to 
write pretty regularly. Mr. Disraeli's most confiden- 
tial servant, however, was Mr. D. T. Coulton, the 
founder of tlie BrUantiia newspaper, and well known at 
that time as the author of a very able article on Junius 
in the Quarterly Review. Mr. Disraeli had a very high 
opinion of Mr. Coulton, who died in 1857, at the early 
age of forty-six, and every Friday night, while Parliament 
was sitting, used to prime him for the next day's leader 
with all the newest arguments and information. Mr. 
Coulton used to return to the office in the Strand with 
a mass of notes, which he speedily reduced into an article, 
remarkable, generally speaking, for point, precision, and 
that peculiar weight, more easily understood than de- 
scribed, which marks the combination of literary ability 
and special knowledge. The Press was much read at 
the time, and is often referred to by Lord Malmesbury ; 
but it never had a very large circulation, and was chiefly 
useful as showing that all the wit, brains, and literary 
skill of London journalism were not monopolised by the 
Liberals. 

In September 1852, while the Conservative Govern- 
ment was still in office, the Duke of Wellington died, 
and nobody remained behind to represent the old school 
of statesmen, who had been trained in the Revolutionary 



88 LIFE OF LOBD BEACONSFIELD. 

war, and possessed that influence with the European 
Courts which England had justly acquired by the sacri- 
fices made on their behalf. Both Lord Aberdeen and 
Lord Palmerston began their political life early in the 
century. But neither had that personal acquaintance 
with the sovereigns of the Continent possessed by menlike 
Wellington and Castlereagh. The death of the former re- 
moved one of the last pillars of the old system as settled 
at the Congress of Vienna; and the effect of it was 
soon seen in the attitude of Russia towards Turkey. 
It fell to the lot of Mr. Disraeli to pronounce the 
funeral oration over the great Duke in the House of 
Commons, and he was unlucky enough to introduce into 
his speech a passage on the Duke's military character 
containing a quotation from Claudian, which he had 
read many years before in an article on Marshal St. 
Cyr, written by M. Thiers for the Revue Triniestre in 
1829. He had once pointed it out to George Smythe, 
who quoted it in the Morning Chronicle of July 4th, 
1848. And it is needless to say how his enemies gloated 
over the discovery. The Times argued in his defence 
that he had copied the passage into his common-place 
book, and had forgotten whence it came. 

But the death of the Duke of Wellington soon gave 
the world more important things to think about than 
a quotation from Claudian. The Crimean War was the 
direct result of it, and the Coalition Ministry were, accord- 
ing to Mr. Disraeli, the efficient cause. It was, so he 
urged, the natural consequence of a divided Cabinet and 
distracted counsels, and they were now reaping the benefit 
of having installed a Government in office which had 
no principle or sentiment in common, but hatred of a 
particular individual. The Peelites and the Radicals 
held back Lord Palmerston. Lord Palmerston and 



MB. DISRAELI AND LORD DERBY, 89 

Lord John Kussell dragged forward Lord Aberdeen. The 
result wasacomplete deadlock, almost equal to the famous 
one in the Critic, and Russia of course seized the oppor- 
tunity and flew at the throat of her victim. Either the 
peace party or the war party might have made terms with 
Russia, but a Government which alternated between the 
two policies, to-day under the influence of one, to- 
morrow under tlie influence of the other, was simply 
impotent, and the Sebastopol winter was the con- 
sequence. 

Mr. Disraeli, however, never sought to hamper or 
impede the Government. He set the example of giving 
them a patriotic support both through the trying time 
which preceded the declaration of war, and after hos- 
tilities had commenced. But soon after the Government 
was formed, he had an opportunity of saying what he 
thought upon the subject without exposing himself 
to any charge of factious opposition, A speech which 
he delivered on our relations with France, on the 
18th of February 1853, may be considered to be 
one of his most brilliant performances. The polished 
irony, the scornful satire, and the genuine humour with 
which again and again he presses home this main 
question: What is the foreign policy of this hetero- 
geneous Cabinet, of which the members only a year or 
two ago were abusing each other like pickpockets ? 
are blended together with the highest oratorical art. 
The Prime Minister was Lord Aberdeen, the Foreign 
Secretary was Lord John Russell, the First Lord of 
the Admiralty was Sir James Graham, and the Home 
Secretary was Lord Palmerston. How had they de- 
scribed each other and each other's principles in the great 
debate of 1850 ? On hearing the Government pro- 
gramme, says Mr. Disraeli, in which it was stated that 



90 LIFE OF LOBD JBEAOONSFIELD. 

our foreign policy would be the same as it had heen 
for the last thirty years — 

I could not forget that tlie principles of the foreign policy then (i.e. 
1850) pursued, and which has been pursued for years by the Govern- 
ment presided over by the noble Lord the Member for London, had 
been described as unbecoming to the dignity of England and perilous 
to the peace of Europe. I could not but remember that this was the 
language used by one of his colleagues in this Coalition Ministry. I 
could not but recollect that Lord Aberdeen himself, with reference to 
the then foreign policy and the principles on which it was conducted, 
had used an epithet rarely admitted into parliamentary debate, for he 
stigmatised them as " abominable." I could not but recollect, also, 
that the great indictment of the foreign policy of the then Govern- 
ment was opened in this House, with elaborate care and vehement 
invective, by the honourable baronet now First Lord of the Admi- 
ralty. 

I will not be deterred from putting the question I am about to ask. 
I say we have a right to ask Ministers upon what jDrinciple our foreign 
policy is to be conducted. Is their system to be one of " liberal 
energy " or of "antiquated imbecility"? When the noble Viscount 
opposite (^Lord Palmerston), who was then Foreign Secretary, was 
vindicating himself from attacks, he took credit for the liberal energy 
of his policy, and described the principles recommended by his present 
chief as a system of "antiquated imbecility." 

The sarcasm which follows at the expense of *' All 
the Talents," was really not unjustifiable. It expresses, 
in fact, the sober and prosaic truth that the veterans 
of the Peel party and the veterans of the Kussell party, 
supposed to be the only men capable of carrying on 
the Government, were already beginning that extraordi- 
nary series of blunders which led to the Crimean war. 

The present Government tell us that they have no principles — at 
least not at present. Some people are uncharitable enongh to sup- 
pose that they have not got a Party ; but, in Heaven's name, why are 
they Ministers if they have not got discretion ? That is the great 
quality on which I had thought this Cabinet was established. Vast 
experience, administrative adroitness — safe men, who never would 
blunder — men who might not only take the Government without a 
principle and without a Party, but to whom the country ought to bo 



MB. DISRAELI AND LORD DERBY, 91 

grateful for taking it under such circumstances ; yet at the very first 
outset, we find one of the most experienced of these eminent states- 
men acting in the teeth of the declarations of the noble lord opposite, 
and of Lord Grey, made in 1852, and holding up to public scorn and 
indignation the ruler and the people, a good and cordial understanding 
with whom is one of the cardinal points of all sound statesmau- 
ship. 

Events justified Mr. Disraeli's words. Two years 
afterwards the Coalition Ministry was overwhelmed by a 
storm of public indignation. But Lord Derby, though 
with the best intentions, unhappily did not seize the op- 
portunity which was offered to him, and, to the life-long 
regret of Mr. Disraeli, declined to form another Govern- 
ment. He had everything in his favour. The Free 
Trade controversy was over, the Keform controversy was 
dormant. The Conservatives would have come into 
ofifice unhampered by pledges of any kind. The weight 
of Protection had turned the scales against them in 
1852, but that was now thrown ofi\ All the nation 
wanted was a strong Government, and a general elec- 
tion would, in the then temper of the country, have 
been certain to yield a Conservative majority. But 
the chance was lost and never came again. In 1858 
and in 1866 a different chass of questions had arisen, 
as embarrassing to the Conservatives as Protection ; 
and eveu in 1874, thougli a change of Government 
was desired, there was not the same opportunity for 
distinction, and for responding to a great national 
demand, as there was in 1855. Lord Palraerston 
stepped in, assumed the responsibilities which Lord 
Derby shrank from undertaking, and had the country 
with him for his life. 

All this was gall and wormwood to Mr. Disraeli, who 
saw the cup dashed from his lips, and tlie legitimate re- 
wards of public life snatched away from his grasp, when in 



92 LIFE OF LOIW BEACONSFIELD. 

imagination it had almost closed on them. The party, 
if we are to believe Lord Malmesbury, was as angry as 
himself. And both leaders and followers entered on a 
passage of their history which is not particularly credit- 
able to either. They felt that they had lost a chance 
which would not present itself again. The pnrty began to 
lose heart, to become garrulous and mutinous, and, as 
they were anxious to vent their spleen upon somebody, 
to vent it on their leadtir in the Commons. They had 
steadily kept aloof from any co-operation with the 
Kadicals, though plenty of opportunities occurred. But 
now they became hopeless and demoralised, and disposed 
even to be factious. Mr. Disraeli was driven into a 
method of opposition which will not bear very close in- 
vestigation. The excuse is that it was necessary to do 
something to keep up the spirits of the party. The 
tactics for which he has been blamed often had their 
origin in this necessity, compelling him at times to fight 
battles without profit, and to take office without power, 
solely for the sake of stimulating the energies, and re- 
viving the confidence of his followers. Every general 
knows what it is to be at the head of a dispirited army, 
in the face of a superior force, weary of inaction, doubt- 
ful of the ability of its leaders, and deteriorating every 
day in discipline and self-respect. Then if an oppor- 
tunity offers of inflicting a sharp check upon a pre- 
sumptuous adversary, and of affording to his own troops 
the excitement and encouragement of a successful battle, 
he knows that the moral effect of such a field will more 
than repay him for the effort, even though the issue 
bring him no material advantage. Mr. Disraeli in his 
time fought many a battle of Busaco. At the same time, 
it must be remembered that Lord Palmerston was kept 
in power by a confederacy between Whigs and Kadicals, 



MB. DISRAELI AND LORD DUBBY. 93 

based on a theory which had long ceased to be a fact ; that 
the hollowness of this pretence was fully recognised by 
the Radical leaders; and that, although by a process of 
dexterous mystification the fiction of a great Liberal 
party was still kept alive in theory, it had not for 
many years been a working reality in Parliament. Lord 
Palmerston was the very man to head such a confederacy, 
and to oil its hinges when they creaked. But, if the 
public wish to know what, in 1856 and 1857, Mr. Glad- 
stone thought of the chief whom he preferred to Lord 
Derby, they need only refer to the Life of Bishop 
Wilberforce. After his return to power in 1859, Lord 
Palmerston threw off the mask and became virtually a 
Tory Prime Minister. The Opposition tactics then took 
another form, and were directed rather against the Chan- 
cellor of the Exchequer than the head of the Govern- 
ment. But from 1855 to 1858 this was not the case; 
and Mr. Disraeli felt that in all his attacks on Lord 
Palmerston during those three years he had his party 
with him. 

Nor is this statement materially affected by what 
occurred in 1857. The famous China debate of that 
year turned on a principle by which both the generosity 
and common sense of Englishmen are always deeply 
moved. The doctrine that *' the servants of the Crown 
must be supported" is one that has necessarily grown to 
be an article of faith with a people whose flag waves on 
every sea, and whose colonies and commerce extend to 
every quarter of the globe. Our honour, our interests, 
and the safety of our countrymen and subjects have to be 
protected in the remotest and most barbarous regions of 
the earth, and this never could have been done as it has 
been done had not every British officer from the highest 
to the lowest known that he was certain of support at 



94 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 

liome, and that, placed in circumstances of difficulty 
and danger, and compelled to act on his own respon- 
sibility alone, the most favourable construction would 
always be placed upon his conduct if ever it should be 
called in question. These are broad general truths 
which find an echo at once in the instincts of the British 
nation, to which no appeal, so enforced, is ever addressed 
in vain. It is to Mr. Disraeli's credit that he quite under- 
stood this, that the debate on Mr. Oobden's motion was 
none of his seeking, that he took part in it with re- 
luctance, and that he regretted the defeat of the Govern- 
ment. The division took place on the 4th of March 
at half-past two in the morning, when for Mr. Cobden's 
motion there were 263 and against it 247, the majority 
against the Government heing 16. Lord Palmerston 
immediately dissolved Parliament, and a rout of his oppo- 
nents followed comparable only to the rout of the Whigs 
in '84. Mr. Cobden lost his seat for Huddersiield, Mr. 
Bright and Mr. Milner Gibson were rejected at 
Manchester, Mr. Layard was defeated at Aylesbury, 
Mr. Cardwell at Oxford, Lord A. Hervey at Brighton, 
Mr. Masterman in London. Mr. Roundel Palmer did 
not venture to stand a contest at Plymouth ; and the net 
result was that Lord Palmerston returned to Parliament 
with a clear majority of seventy over both Peelites and 
Conservatives. It seemed now as if nothing could 
unseat him, for the Radicals had received a sharp lesson, 
and the Conservatives had lost thirty seats — nearly all 
they had won in 1852. 

It was at this time that Mr. Gladstone made his 
nearest approach to a reconciliation with the Tory party. 
He spoke and voted against Lord Palmerston on the 
Chinese question. He had previously joined Mr. 
Disraeli in condemning Sir G. Cornewall Lewis's 



MB. DISBAELI AND LORD DERBY. 95 

Budget, though here again the mutinous Tories refused 
to follow their leader, who was defeated hy a majority of 
eighty. After the general election of 1857 he still con- 
tinued to evince a friendly spirit towards Lord Derby. Ho 
told Bishop VVilberforce that it was only Mr. Disraeli's 
Budget which made him oppose the Government in 1852. 
And the Bishop thought that he was evidently for a 
Conservative allijmce. In the following year, 1858, 
when an attempt had been made on the life of the Em- 
peror Napoleon, and Lord Palmerston in consequence 
had introduced tlie Conspiracy to Murder Bill, Mr. 
Milner Gibson moved an amendment, regretting that 
the Government had not previously replied in a fitting 
manner to the remonstrance addressed to them by the 
French Minister. In favour of this amendment Mr. Glad- 
stone both spoke and voted ; and the Government, being 
defeated by a majority of nineteen. Lord Palmerston 
resigned and made way for Lord Derby, with Mr. 
Disraeli in his old place. 

Before constructing his Administration Lord Derby 
made proposals to Mr. Gladstone, the Duke of 
Newcastle, and Earl Grey. But they declined to 
join him, and the Administration was composed for 
the most part of the old materials."'^ It had to en- 



* The second Administration of the Earl of Derby was composed 
as follows: — 

Earl of Derby, First Lord of the Treasury. 
Lord Chelmsford, Lord Chancellor. 
Marquis of Salisbury, Lord President. 
Earl of Hardwicke, Lord Privy Seal. 
Mr. Disraeli, Chancellor of the Exchequer. 
Mr. Walpolo, Home Secretary. 
Earl of Malmesbury, Foreign Secretary, 
Lord Stanley, Colonial Secretary. 
Colonel Peel, War Secretary. 



96 LIFU OF LORD BEACOJSfSFIELD, 

counter a very bitter opposition, and was nearly 
wrecked upon the threshold, in consequence of a ques- 
tion arising out of the Indian Mutiny, and relating 
to a despatch addressed by Lord Ellenborough, the 
President of the Board of Control, to the Governor- 
General, Lord Canning, severely censuring his policy 
towards the landed proprietors of Oude. The despatch 
turned out to be perfectly justifiable ; and Sir James 
Outram, a valued authority on Indian questions, en- 
tirely agreed with Lord Ellenborough. But the British 
public did not know all this ; and the despatch, un- 
luckily, being communicated to members of the late 
Ministry, formed the basis of an attack on the Govern- 
ment which threatened to be fatal. Lord Ellenborough 
resigned, but the attack went on. It was defeated in 
the House of Lords. But a motion of Mr. Cardwell's 
was debated four nights in the House of Commons, and 
a majority of eighty in its favour was at one time antici- 
pated. Meanwhile, however, the truth had begun to 
leak out. The supporters of Government fell away, 
and what followed we shall tell in Mr. Disraeli's own 
words : — 

There is nothing like that last Friday evening in the history of the 
House of Commons. We came down to the House expecting to divide 
at four o'clock in the morning — myself probably expecting to deliver 
an address two hours after midnight. . . . Our serried ranks seemed 
to rival those of ©ur proud opponents, when suddenly there rose a 
wail of distress, but not from us. I can only liken the scene to the 



Earl of Ellenborough, Board of Control. 

Mr. Henley, Board of Trade. 

Duke of Montrose, Duchy of Lancaster. 

Sir John Pakington, Admiralty. 

Earl of Eglinton, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. 

Lord Naas, Chief Secretary. 

Lord John Manners, Woods and Forests. 



MB. JDISEAELI AND LORD DERBY, 97 

mutiny in the Bengal army. Regiment after regiment, corps after 
corps, general after general — all acknowledged that they could not 
march through Coventry. It was like a commotion of nature more 
than an ordinaiy transaction of human life. 1 can only liken it to one of 
those earthquakes which take place in Catania and Peru. There was 
a rumbling murmur, a groan, a shriek, a sound of distant thunder. 
No one knew whether it came from the top or the bottom of the 
House. There was a rent, a fissure in the ground, and then a village 
disappeared, then a tall tower toppled down, and the whole of the 
Opposition benches became one great dissolving view of anarchy. 

The above is quoted from Mr. Disraeli's speech at 
the celebrated Slough banquet, and we may as well add 
the words in which Lord Derby afterwards criticised it: 
" Great as was the wit, great as was the clearness, great 
as was the humour of this most graphic description, 
that which peculiarly appertained to it was its undeniable 
truth. There was no exaggeration, even of colouring, 
for no exaggeration could be applied to that matchless 
scene at which — I shall remember it to the last day of 
my life — I had the good fortune to be present." 

During the remainder of the session of 1858 the 
Government carried a Bill for transferring the Govern- 
ment of India from the Company to the Crown, and for 
the admission of Jews to Parliament. The latter was 
eifected by means of a Bill introduced by Lord Lucan 
in the House of Lords, and supported by Lord Derby, 
authorising eitlier House by Special Eesolution to alter 
the form of oath to be taken by a member. And thus 
Mr. Disraeli had the satisfaction of seeing the cause 
which he had so much at heart triumph under the 
auspices of a Conservative Government. 

The great question of the day, however, was Parlia- 
mentary reform, which Lord Derby, on taking Office, 
declared himself prepared to deal with. Mr. Disraeli 
had foreseen and provided against the possibility that 
the Conservative Party would some day be called upon 



98 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 

to settle this question ; and he had taken an early 
opportunity of anticipating the objection that it was 
not a fitting duty for Conservatives. Tn 1848 he had 
expressed his views upon the subject, and in the interval 
had frequently declared that, though it was not with 
his consent that the settlement of 1832 had been dis- 
turbed, he reserved to the Conservative Party the full 
right of dealing with the question, now that their oppo- 
nents had re-opened it. It has been too much for- 
gotten that the measure of 1832 was by no means 
satisfactory to the Conservatives, and that Sir Robert 
Peel was praised for his patriotism in promising honestly 
to accept it. But when their opponents themselves 
revived the question the case was entirely altered. 

Accordingly, on the 28th of February 1859, the 
Chancellor of the Exchequer exphiined the provisions 
of a Bill which the Government were prepared to intro- 
duce, its two cardinal provisions being the equalisation 
of the town and county franchise, both being fixed at 
£10, and the restriction of the 40s. freeholder in boroughs 
to a vote for the borough in which he lived, depriving 
him of his vote for the county in which he did not live.* 
Mr. Disraeli also broached on this occasion his theory 
of Parliamentary representation, namely, that it should be 
the representation neither of population nor of property, 
but of interests. It should, he said, *'be large enough 
to be independent, and select enough to be re- 
sponsible." To this end he introduced certain fancy 
franchises, as they were then called, for giving votes to 
holders of stock, to depositors in savings' banks, to 
holders of pensions of £20 a year and upwards, and to 
lodgers paying a rent of 8s. a week. The educational 

* The non-resident borough freeholder would have retained his vote 
for the county. 



MB. DISEAELI AND LORD DERBY, 99 

franchise gave a vote to members of universities, and 
members of the liberal professions. But the Bill did 
not satisfy either his own party or the Opposition. Mr. 
Henley and Mr. Walpole disapproved of identity of 
suffrage as likely to lead to an " ugly rush/' and retired 
from the Ministry. Lord John Russell condemned 
wliat he called the disfranchisement of the borough 
freeliolders, though the Whig Government in 1832 had 
all but agreed to do the same thing, and the non-reduc- 
tion of the borough franchise ; and, opposing the second 
reading on these grounds, defeated it by a majority 
of thirty nine. On this occasion, too, Mr. Gladstone 
supported Lord Derby both by his speech and his vote. 
Mr. Disraeli, in his introductory speech, demolishes 
the mild Conservative policy, which he calls *'a feeble 
and a dangerous policy," of a ^20 county, and ^6 
borough franchise, advocated by the noble lord, the 
Member for Tiverton, and by his right honourable 
friends, and he would probably have said even at 
that time that there was no intermediate halting-place 
between the i*10 franchise and the pure rating fran- 
chise. But tliat he would have preferred the former 
seems evident from the following very remarkable pas- 
sage. Mr. Sturt had said, in the course of the debate, 
that he was not afraid of the people. Mr. Disraeli 
said : — 

Why, Sir, I have no apprehension myself that, if you had manhood 
suffrage to-morrow, the honest, brave, and good-natured people of 
England would resort to pillage, incendiarism, and massacre. Who 
expects that ? But though I would do as much justice to the quali- 
ties of our countrymen as any gentleman in this House — though I may 
not indulge in high-flown and far-fetched expressions with respect to 
them Hke those we have listened to, for the people maj^ have their 
parasites as well as monarchs and aristocracies — yet I have no doubt 
that, whatever may be their high qualities, our countrymen are sub- 
ject to the same political laws that alTcct the condition of all other 

7 * 



100 LIFE OF LOUD BEACONSFIELD. 

communities and nations. If you establish a democracy, you must in 
due season reap the fruits of a democracy. You will in due season 
have great impatience of the public burdens combined in due season 
with great increase of the public expenditure. You will in due 
season have wars entered upon from passion and not from reason ; and 
you will in due season submit to peace ignominiously sought and igno- 
miniously obtained, which will diminish your authority and perhaps 
endanger your independence. You will in due season, with a demo- 
cracy, find that your property is less Taluable, and that your freedom 
is less complete. I doubt not, when there has been realised a suffi- 
cient quantity of disaffection and dismay, the good sense of this 
country will come to the rally, and that you will obtain some remedy 
for your grievances, and some redress for your wrongs, by the pro- 
cess through which alone it can be obtained — by that process which 
may make your property more secure, but which will not render your 
liberty more eminent. 

These are prophetic words, and they expressed Mr. 
Disraeli^s real convictions. For the Beform Bill of 
1867, he threw the responsibility first on those who had 
re-opened the settlement of 1832, and, secondly, on 
those who rejected the Bill of 1859. 

Lord Derby dissolved Parliament, and gained largely 
at the elections, but he was still left in a minority ; 
and on a vote of want of confidence, moved by Lord 
tiartington, being carried by a majority of thirteen, 
tlie second Derby Ministry v^^as dissolved. Lord 
Hartington's indictment, however, was not confined 
merely to the Reform Question. He reproached 
Ministers with having failed to prevent the war be- 
tween France and Austria, which had broken out 
just after the dissolution ; a topic handled with still 
more severity by Lord Palmerston, who implied that 
they had even threatened France, and encouraged 
Austria by expressions of sympathy and approval. 
When the correspondence between Lord Malmesbury 
and the other Powers came to be published, these impu- 
tations were sufficiently refuted. But in the meantime 



ME, DISRAELI AND LORD DERBY. 101 

they turned the scale, and led to the downfall of the 
Government. The strangest thing of all is, that while 
the debate was still in progress, these papers were 
actually printed ; and why they were not laid on the 
table of the House is a mystery to this day. Lord 
Malmesbnry says, in a letter to Lord Cowley, of the 18t,h 
of June 1859, that it was because Mr. Disraeli himself 
had not read tliem^ and could not have fought them in 
debate. But this does not seem to be his matured 
opinion, since five-and-twenty years afterwards he writes 
as follows : — 

Thus fell the second administration of Lord Derby. With a dead 
majority against him, it is evident that he could not for long have 
maintained his ground, but it is equally certain that he would not 
have been defeated on the Address if Disraeli had previously laid on 
the table the Blue Book containing the French and Italian correspon- 
dence with the Foreign Office, Why he chose not to do so I never 
knew, nor did ho ever explain it to me; but I presented it to the 
House of Lords at the last moment, and at least twelve or fourteen 
Members of Parliament who voted against us in the fatal division 
came out of their way, at different times and places, to assure me that 
had they read that correspondence before the debate they never would 
have voted for an amendment which, as far as our conduct respecting 
the war was concerned, was thoroughly undeserved, we having done 
everything that was possible to preserve peace. Mr. Cobden was one 
of these, and expressed himself most strongly on the subject.* 

Such also seems to have been the opinion of Mr. 
Delane, the editor of the Times, who, after reading the 
Blue Book, wrote to Lord Malmesbury, as follows : — 

Dear Lord Malmesbury, 

... I sincerely believe that if you had published your 
despatches a fortnight earlier they would have had a very important 
influence on the division, and I think it has been sufficiently proved 
how I would have done you justice irrespective of party interests. 

Faithfully yours, 

John T. Delane. 

* Mfi.moirs of an ex-Minister, vol. ii., p. 189. 



102 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 

Mr. Disraeli told me himself, a few weeks after the 
division, that the papers were not ready. But how this 
statement is to be reconciled with Lord Malmesbury's 
I do not pretend to say. 

The Chinese Vote of 1857, the unsuccessful Reform 
Bill, and the mismanagement, as was supposed, of the 
Debate on Lord Hartington's amendment weakened 
for a time the confidence of the Opposition in Mr. 
Disraeli's- powers ; and the next five years were not the 
happiest period of his Parliamentary career. Many 
members of the Tory party thought Lord Palraerston a 
better leader than their own ; and when the latter had 
planned an attack, which, if properly supported by the 
Opposition, would have turned out the Government, he 
had the mortification of seeing the officer to whom it 
was entrusted refuse to fight when he understood what 
the consequences would be. The question was reduc- 
tion of expenditure, and the debate occurred the day 
before the Derby. Mr. Disraeli said : — 

I see several amendments on the paper which are offered for the 
purpose of attaining it [a reduction]. With most of them I am 
obhged, for one reason or another, to differ ; there remained that of 
my right honourable friend, which I was disposed to prefer to them 
all. To-morrow I believe we shall all be engaged elsewhere. I 
daresay that many honourable gentlemen who take more interest than 
I do in that noble pastime will have their favourites. I hope they 
will not be so unlucky as to find their favourites bolting. If they 
are placed in that dilemma they will be better able to understand 
and sympathise with my feelings on this occasion. 

I have been told that, during the greater part of Lord 
Palmerston^s second aduiinistration, Mr. Disraeli was a 
good deal isolated from his party. And in point of 
fact, the policy of Lord Palmerston left very little for the 
leader of the Opposition to do. It was a time of peace, 
to which many old Conservatives looked back after his 
death, as Tories of the older school looked back after 



MB. DISRAELI AND LORD DERBY. 103 

the Keform Bill, to the halcyon days of Lord Liver- 
pool. Throughout the whole of it foreign affairs 
were the principal subject of interest. Lord Russell was 
Foreign Secretary, and, in the absence of domestic topics, 
Lord Russell and Italy, Lord Russell and Savoy, Lord 
Russell and the Pope, Lord Russell and Denmark, Lord 
Russell and the Emperors of Russia, Austria, and France, 
afforded an inexhaustible fund of amusement every 
session to both Houses of Parliament. The '* rich 
harvest of autumnal indiscretions," as Mr. Disraeli 
facetiously termed the annual results of Lord Russell's 
work in the recess, supplied the leader of the Opposi- 
tion with food for many brilliant efforts ; and scat- 
tered up and down the volumes of Hansard during 
these five years are to be found some of the most 
masterly speeches on the foreign policy of England which 
Parliament can boast, and which make one sometimes 
regret that so important a department of public affairs 
had never been committed to one who, in many circum- 
stances of his career as well as in his conception of 
English interests, so closely resembled Canning. 

Some of his best speeches on domestic subjects were 
delivered during the same period. Among them may be 
mentioned a speech on Commercial Treaties on the 17th 
of February 1863, one on Reform in 1865, and four 
speeches on the Church of England in the year 1861, 
1862, 1863, and 1864 respectively. The gist of his 
remarks on Commercial Treaties was that they could do 
us very little good now, when, owing to our Free Trade 
policy, we had nothing left to give in exchange. His 
speeches on the Church of England, taken together, 
constitute a little treatise, and were collected and pub- 
lished in pamphlet form under the title of Church and 
Queen, The first was spoken on the lith of November 



104 LIFE OF LOBD BFACONSFIELD. 

1861, at the meeting of the Oxford Diocesan Church 
Societies, with the Bishop of Oxford in the chair. In 
this speech the statesman addresses himself to what he 
conceives to be the want of union in the Church, which 
prevents her from showing that irresistible front to 
her opponents, which, under other circumstances, she 
might present. He traces the disunion to three causes : 
a feeling of perplexity arising out of the state of parties 
in the Church, a feeling of distrust arising out of the 
existence of scepticism within her pale, and a feeling of 
discontent arising out of her relations with the civil 
power. 

Mr. Disraeli said that there had always been par- 
ties in the Church, that the scepticism was stale and 
oft-repeated scepticism, and the connection with the 
State conferred a benefit on the Church, for which she 
would do well to endure all its inconveniences. Mr. 
Disraeli, however, forgot that though there may always 
have been parties in the Church, they were not always 
at open hostilities with each other. Between the Re- 
formation and the Restoration they were so, neither 
believing that the other had any lawful footing in the 
Church of England. And we know what followed. But 
from the Restoration to the Oxford Revival such was 
not the case. The High Church and the Low Church 
parties existed alongside of each other, without either 
wishing to exterminate the rival school. But the quarrel 
between the Ritualists and Evangelicals seemed at one 
time likely to develop into something almost as dan- 
gerous as that between Puritan and Anglican. As for 
the scepticism, it mattered little whether it was old or 
new, if it continued to unsettle men's minds and shake 
their faith in the sincerity of the clergy. It was in that 
speech that Mr. Disraeli passed his famous judgment 



MR. BISBAELI AND LOBD DERBY, 105 

upon the Essoyists and Reviewers, saying that thou oh 
he was "all for free enquiry, it must be by free en- 
quirers." He was quite right, however, in the conclu- 
sion to which he was leading up, namely, that union 
among Churchmen only could avert the disestablishment 
of the Church. The clergy must not be deceived by the 
victories of the Conservative Party in the House of Com- 
mons on the question of Church rates. The enemies 
of the Church might be only a minority, " but the his- 
tory of success is the history of minorities." 

The second of these speeches was delivered at High 
Wycombe, at a public meeting held in aid of the Society 
for the Augmentation of Small Benefices, on the 30th 
of October 1862, and in this and in the fourth of the 
series, he sketches out the means by which the Chiu'ch 
may assert her nationality, in the face of the fact that so 
large a part of the nation is estranged from her commu- 
nion. His suggestions are eight in number. The 
Church must educate the people. She must increase 
the episcopate. She must jealously maintain her exist- 
ing parochial constitution. She must invite the co- 
operation of the laity in Church government. She must 
endeavour, as far as possible, to place the pecuniary posi- 
tion of the clergy on a more satisfactory footing. Con- 
vocation should be constituted on a broader basis, with 
a better representation of the parochial clergy, and, 
perhaps, a union of the two provinces. The relations 
of the Colonial Church with the Metropolitan must be 
improved. And, finally, a satisfactory Court of Appeal 
in ecclesiastical causes must be established. 

In all these recommendations we can see the laborious 
effort of a powerful and acute intellect to throw itself 
into a cause which appeals to the speaker's head more 
than to his heart; an cff'ort which, we cannot help say- 



106 LIFE OF LOED BEACONSFIELD. 

ing, is not entirely successful. There is something 
artifi(3ial in the earnestness with which he presses these 
counsels on the Church ; and, more than all, there is an 
absence of what elsewhere never fails him — that tone of 
originality and freshness with which his remarks, even 
on the most hackneyed topics, were usually characterised. 
At the same time, his suggestions are practical and sen- 
sible, and most of them are now numbered among recog- 
nised ecclesiastical necessities. There are, moreover, in the 
last of these speeches, some striking and eloquent passages, 
principally in relation to the new school of scepticism 
which was then developing itself. Mr. Disraeli asks — • 

Will these opinions succeed ? Is there a possibility of their suc- 
cess ? My conviction is that they will fail. I wish to do justice to 
the acknowledged talent, the influence, and information which the 
new party command ; but I am of opinion that they will fail, for two 
reasons. In the first place, having examined all their writings, I 
believe, without any exception, whether they consist of fascinating 
eloquence, diversified learning, and picturesque sensibility — I speak 
seriously what I feel — and that, too, exercised by one honoured in 
this University, and whom to know is to admire and to regard ; or 
whether you find them in the cruder conclusions of prelates who 
appear to have commenced their theological studies after they had 
grasped the crozier, and who introduce to society their obsolete dis- 
coveries with the startling wonder and frank ingenuousness of their 
own savages ; or whether I read the lucubrations of nebulous profes- 
sors, who seem in their style to revive chaos ; or, lastly, whether it 
be the provincial arrogance and the precipitate self-complacency 
which flash and flare in an essay or review, I find the common cha- 
racteristic of their writings is this — that their learning is always 
secondhand. 

All that inexorable logic, irresistible rhetoric, bewitching wit, could 
avail to popularise those views, were set in motion to impress the 
new learning on the minds of the two leading nations of Europe — the 
people of England and the people of France. And they produced 
their effect. The greatest of revolutions was, I will not say, occa- 
sioned by those opinions, but no one can deny that their promulgation 
largely contributed to that mighty movement popularly called the 
French Revolution, which has not yet ended, and which is certainly 



MB. BISBAELI AND LORD BEBBY. 107 

the greatest event that has happened in the history of man. Only 
the fall of the Roman Empire can be compared to it ; but that was 
going on for centuries, and so gradually, that it cannot for one 
moment be held to have so instantaneously influenced the opinion of 
the world. Now, what has happened ? Look at the age in which 
we live, and the time when these opinions were successfully promul- 
gated by men who, I am sure, with no intention to disparage a new 
party, I may venture to say were not unequal to them. Look at the 
Europe of the present day, and the Europe of a century ago. It is 
not the same Europe ; its very form is changed ; whole nations and 
great nations which then flourished have disappeared. There is not 
a political constitution in Europe existing at the present time which 
then existed. The leading community of the Continent of Europe 
has changed all its landmarks, altered its boundaries, erased its local 
names. The whole jurisprudence of Europe has been subverted. 
Even the tenure of land, which of all human institutions most affects 
the character of man, has been altered. The feudal system has been 
abolished. Not merely manners have been changed, but customs 
have been changed. And what has happened ? When the turbulence 
was over, when the shout of triumph and the wail of agony were alike 
stilled ; when, as it were, the waters had subsided, the sacred 
heights of Sinai and of Cavalry were again revealed, and amid the 
wreck of thrones and tribunals, of extinct nations and abolished 
laws, mankind, tried by so many sorrows, purified by so much 
suffering, and wise with such unprecedented expei'ience, bowed again 
before the decisive truths that Omnipotence in His ineffable wisdom 
had entrusted to the custody and the promulgation of a chosen 
people. 

The simile at the end of this passage occurs in Can- 
ning's speech in proposing the vote of thanks to the 
Duke of Wellington after the battle of Vittoria. Sir 
Walter Scott has also introduced it in his Life of Napo- 
leon. But Lord Beaconsfield has embellished it, and 
applied it with increased effect. 

This, too, is the speech in which another memorable 
phrase occurs : — ** What is the question now placed 
before society with a glib assurance the most astound- 
ing ? The question is this : Is man an ape or an angel ? 
My Lord, I am on the side of the angels.'* 



108 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIELD, 

The following remark, again, is well worthy of being 
recorded : — 

There is another point in connection with this subject which I can- 
not help noticing on the present occasion. It is the common cry — the 
common blunder — that articles of faith and religious creeds are the 
arms of a clergy, and are framed to tyrannise over a land. They are 
exactly the reverse. The precise creed and the strict article are the 
title deeds of the laity to the religion which has descended to them ; 
and whenever these questions have been brought before Parliament, I 
have always opposed alterations of articles and subscriptions on this 
broad principle — that the security and certainty which they furnish 
are the special privileges of the laity, and that you cannot tell in 
what position the laity may find themselves if that secui'ity be with- 
drawn. 

In the year 1862 Mr. Disraeli re-published, in the 
foim of a pamphlet, two financial speeches, one deli- 
vered in February 1860, on the introduction of the 
Budget, the other on the 8th of April 1862, on a similar 
occasion. The two together form a summary of Mr. 
Gladstone's financial policy from 1853 to 1862, and 
events have to some extent justified Mr. Disraeli's 
criticism. They certainly tend to modify the somewhat 
extravagant estimate which had been formed of Mr. 
Gladstone as a financier, and to suggest that his highly 
popular projects were more showy than safe. 

The General Election of 1865 was unfavourable to 
the Conservatives, and after Lord Palmerston's death in 
the autumn of that year Earl Kussell succeeded to the 
Treasury with a nominal majority of seventy. But a 
considerable proportion of these had been returned to 
support the late Premier, and in the admission of Mr. 
Bright to the confidence of the new Cabinet they saw 
little guaranteefor the further continuation of his policy. 
A Be form Bill was introduced by Mr. Gladstone, dealing 
only with the franchise, and postponing to a more con- 
venient season the redistribution of seats. The objec- 



MB. DISBAELI AND LORD DERBY. 109 

tion to this plan is obvious. If the Ministry were 
allowed to carry their Franchise Bill by itself, they 
would be able to dissolve Parliament and appeal to the 
enfranchised classes on the question of redistribution 
only. Thus they would be sure of a majority, and could 
manufacture their electorate as they pleased. 

Disaffected supporters and keen-witted opponents 
were not likely to lose this opportunity. The plan was de- 
feated by a combined movement of the two — the present 
Duke of Westminster and the present Earl of Derby 
being the mover and seconder of a hostile resolution. 
Now was formed the celebrated '* Cave " — a body of 
seceders from the JNlinisterial Party likened by Mr. 
Bright to the inmates of the Cave of Adullam. They 
included the present Duke of Westminster, Lord Wemyss, 
and Lord Sherbrooke, all three at that time in the House 
of Commons, the Earl of Lichfield, bis brother, Major 
Anson, Member for Lichfield, and numbered altogether 
some twenty or thirty votes, sufficient, as it proved, to 
support the Conservative Government in their Reform 
Bill of the following year. But though Ministers, 
left with a majority of only five, abandoned their 
proposal and brought in a complete measure, they 
never recovered from the shock, and, after a pro- 
tracted struggle, marked by various vicissitudes, 
they fell before a resolution of Lord Dunkellin's, 
affirming the superiority of a rating to a rental fran- 
chise. 

Had these events happened but one year earlier 
— had liOid Palmerston died in the autumn of 1864, 
and Lord BusselTs Government been defeated befoi-e 
the General Election of 18G5 — how different our his- 
tory might have been ! The Tories in that case would 
have dissolved their own Parliament ; all the Conserva- 



110 LIFE OF LOUD BEACONSFIELD, 

tive public feeling which went to support Lord Palmer- 
ston would have gone to swell their own ranks, and 
instead of losing, as they did, nearly twenty seats, they 
would probably have gained double, and have returned 
to Parliament with a clear working majority. But it 
was not to be, and for the third time Mr. Disraeli found 
himself Leader of the House of Commons with only a 
minority at his back."^ 

Under these circumstances, the policy of the Tory 
Cabinet was spirited and sagacious. It might certainly 
have been desirable, had it been possible, that the 
settlement of 1832 should remain undisturbed, though 
founded on no principle, and exposed to criticisms 
against which the argument from experience, however 
brilliantly enforced, was always felt to be inadequate. 
But it was not possible. The Whig-Radical Party had 
committed themselves to a further change; and they 
could have turned out any Tory Government at a 
months' notice, which declared itself hostile to reform. 

The third Derhy Administration was composed as follows : — 
First Lord of the Treasury, Earl of Derby. 
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Disraeli. 
Lord Chancellor, Lord Chelmsford. 
Home Secretary, Mr. Walpole. 
Foreign Secretary, Lord Stanley. 
Colonial Secretary, Lord Carnarvon. 
Secretary for War, General Peel. 
Secretary for India, Lord Cranbourne. 
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Marquis of Abercom. 
Chief Secretary, Lord Naas. 
First Lord of the Admiralty, Sir J. Pakington. 
. Lord President, Duke of Buckingham. 
Lord Privy Seal, Earl of Malmesbury. 
Commissioner of Works, Lord John Manners. 
President of the Board of Trade, Sir S. Northcote. 
President of the Poor-Law Board, Mr. Gathorne Hardy. 
Postmaster-General, Duke of Montrose. 



MB. DISRAELI AND LORD DERBY. Ill 

There was but one thing to do. The Conservative 
leaders saw from the first that if you could not defend 
the ^eiO test, you could not defend any other equally 
arbitrary one. The existing franchise had acquired 
some prescriptive sanctity. Parliaments returned by it 
had done great things. If the people would not hold 
by that, what chance was there that they would long 
endure a £7 franchise with no such titles to their reve- 
rence ? Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli thought the £10 
franchise worth a fight ; and they fought in its defence 
a gallant and well-contested action. But having once 
been beaten on it they treated that result as final, and 
resolved to have no more to do with it. Mr. Henley, a 
typical Conservative, took the same view; and even 
Lord Sherbrooke himself acknowledged that there was 
no permanent resting-place between the JGIO franchise 
and household suffrage. 

Mr. Disraeli, however, determined, if he could, to 
remove the question from the domain of party, and to 
make the whole House of Commons assist him in the 
work. This was the meaning of his celebrated thirteen 
" Resolutions," by means of which he hoped to ascer- 
tain the collective opinion of the House, so as to frame 
a measure which could not be assailed on pure party 
grounds. As the success of this proposal would have 
had the effect of disarming the Opposition, its leaders, 
of course, refused it, and the Cabinet was compelled to 
bring in a Bill at once. Mr. Disraeli proposed a £15 
county franchise, and a borough franchise based on 
household rating, combined with two years' residence 
and personal payment of rates. But between the intro- 
duction of the Resolutions on the 11th of February and 
the further discussion of them on the 25th, doubt arose 
in the minds of Lord Cranborne, Lord Carnarvon, and 



J 12 LIFE OF LORD BEAGONSJ^IFLB. 

General Peel with regard to the rating suffrage, and on 
Sunday the 24th they placed their resignation in the 
hands of Lord Derby. They consented to remain on 
condition that a different measure was proposed ; and 
the '*Ten Minutes' Bill/' substituting a £6 franchise in 
the borough, was adopted. Mr. Disraeli had literally 
hardly more than an hour to prepare himself for this 
sudden change of front, and he offered to resign office 
rather than undertake a task so much to his own dis- 
taste. However, he was overruled. At three o'clock 
on that Monday afternoon, February 25th, he had eaten 
nothing, and, after taking a single glass of wine in 
Downing Street, he went down to the House, there to 
discharge his allotted task with an air of depression 
and deprecation which surprised everyone who heard 
him. The Bill, naturally, was only born to perish, and 
the Government and the Conservative Party had now to 
consider what course they should pursue. The Govern- 
ment, however, was not left to decide. A meeting was held 
at the Carlton Club, the result of which was to inform the 
Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
that the Tory Party now would support the original 
scheme and no other. Thus, so far from Mr. Disraeli 
having dragged an unwilling party after him, the party 
itself insisted upon his acting as he did ; and he had no 
sincerer supporters through the desperate struggles 
which ensued than some of those very county members 
whose trust he was said to have abused. 

Whatever may have been thought of the policy of 
the Government measure, there is no doubt that Mr. 
Disraeli's parliamentary reputation was enormously 
enhanced by his conduct of it. So bitter and ruthless 
an opposition has rarely been met by such consum- 
mate tact, such immovable good temper, such alert 



MB. DISRAELI AND LORD DERBY. 113 

logic, and such perfect self-possession. His humorous 
comments on Mr. Gladstone's bursts of passion de- 
lighted both sides of the House; the easy good-humour 
with which he expressed his satisfaction at having had 
the table between himself and Mr. Gladstone, during 
one of that gentleman's diatribes, destroyed its whole 
effect in a moment. His description of Mr. Lowe, aftei 
that gentleman had referred, in illustration of his own 
position, to the Battle of Hastings and the Battle ol 
Chseronea, as an '* inspired school-boy " ; and his retort 
on Mr. Beresford Hope, who refused to support an 
Asian mystery, that in his severest sarcasms there was 
a " Batavian grace " which robbed his words of all their 
sting, will never be forgotten, either by those who 
heard him at the time, or those who treasure up the 
traditions of Parliamentary eloquence and wit. 

Nor were his graver efforts less surprising. One 
night he wound up a great debate, answering the 
House all round in a speech of three hours duration, 
without a single note ; and it was allowed on all sides 
that he had not missed a point, nor failed to make 
the most of an argument througliout the whole of it. 
When after his first great division against the whole 
might of Mr. Gladstone, which he won by a majority 
of twenty-one, Tory members crowded up to the 
Treasury Bench to shake hands with and congratu- 
late him, they only expressed the feeling of three- 
fourths of the House, who would have liked to pay 
the same tribute of admiration to so genial and gallan 
an antagonist. 

The Franchise clauses of the Bill itself, as origi- 
nally introduced by its author, will be found in the 
Appendix. It was greatly altered for the worse in 
Committee. But Mr. Disraeli is not responsible for 

8 



114 LIFE OF LORD BEAC0N8FIELD. 

the consequences. As it originally stood, it was a much 
more Conservative measure than in its final form. The 
abolition of the compound householder, and the change 
of two years residence for one, destroyed two of its 
principal securities. 

The year 1868 brought to Mr. Disraeli, in his sixty 
third year, the prize to which he had aspired from his 
early manhood, and for which he had served as few 
have ever served before him. He had fought his way 
by his eloquence and bis wit, and, on the resignation 
of Lord Derby in March 1868, he was at once recog- 
nised by all competent judges as his only possible 
successor. His speech on taking his seat as Prime 
Minister in the House of Commons was brief and 
dignified; and so was his tenure of the office. But it 
must always be regarded as one of the most important 
events in modern history, as it undoubtedly had the 
effect of re-opening the Irish Question, and entailed on 
us the long and disastrous train of consequences which 
seem still to be unexhausted. If we allow Mr. Gladstone's 
Irish Resolutions of 1868 to have been a legitimate 
party move, the fact remains that but for Mr. Disraeli's 
elevation to the Premiership, and his prospects of a 
majority at the next General Election, these resolutions 
would never have been introduced, and the terrible 
struggle of the last eight years would have been either 
postponed or averted altogether. 



115 



CHAPTER VI. 

MB. DISKAELI AS LEADER OF THE PARTY. 

1868-1881. 

Mr. Gladstone's Irish Resolutions — Mr. Disraeli's speech on the Abys- 
sinian war — General Election of 1868 — Mr. Disraeli's speeches in 
Opposition — Death of Lady Beaconsfield — Refusal to take office 
in 1873 — Mr. Disraeli Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow 
— The Conservative reaction — Mr. Disraeli and the masses — The 
Cabinet of 1874— The Public Worship Regulation Bill- -Sanitas 
sanitatum — Social legislation — Educational measures — Ecclesias- 
tical questions — The Royal Titles Act — Mr. Disraeli becomes 
Lord Beaconsfield — Foreign policy of his Administration — The 
Eastern Question — The Bulgarian Atrocities— The March Pro- 
tocol — Declai'ation of War by Russia — The treaty of San Stephano 
and its consequences — The Treaty of Berlin — Its results — The 
The Anglo-Turkish Convention— Peace with Honour — The Aff- 
ghan war — Unpopularity of the Government — The General 
Election of 1880 — Lord Beaconsfield's last appearances in Parlia- 
ment — His illness and death — Grief of the nation — The funeral 
at Hughenden — Visit of the Queen — The Primrose League — 
Tributes to Lord Beaconsfield's memory. 

Henceforth we have to regard Mr. Disraeli and 
Mr. Gladstone as the two rival chiefs of Conservatism 
and Liberalism, towering by a head and shoulders over 
all their contemporaries, and converting party warfare 
into a duel between the two heroes. It was in 1868 
that Mr. Gladstone brought in the first of his Irish 

8 * 



116 LIFE OF LOED BEAGONSFIELD. 

Eesolutions, which, after a long debate and a powerful 
reply from the Prime Minister, was carried by a ma- 
jority of sixty-five. Mr. Disraeli then said that as the 
appeal was ultimately to the nation he would not give 
the House the trouble of dividing upon the others. 
But he w^as not allowed to escape without a severe 
cross-examination, conducted by Mr. Bright and Mr. 
Gladstone, whose contention was that he ought to have 
resigned at once. But his position was this : he 
would not allow that tho existing House of Commons 
was a fair judge of the question. When an adverse 
vote may fairly be taken to express the opinion of the 
country, a constitutional minister resigns; when there 
is a doubt upon the point, he dissolves Parliament, 
and puts the question directly to the people. These 
are the two constitutional courses, one or other of 
which a minister is bound to adopt. Now, what had 
been the recent history of the Irish Church question 
up to that period? Shortly before the last General 
Election, Mr. Gladstone himself had spoken of the Irish 
Church as a question " out of the domain of practical 
politics," as surrounded with *' immense difficulties," and 
as not likely to come forward in bis own time — exactly 
as he speaks of the Church of England now. With 
these statements staring the country in the face, the 
question of the Irish Church could have had no in- 
fluence whatever in determining the choice of the 
constituencies. The existing House of Commons, 
therefore, was no adequate reflection of public opinion 
on the subject; consequently it was no part of Mr, 
Disraeli's duty to resign office. 

The legitimate alternative was to advise Her Majesty 
to dissolve. This, then, was the course which he adopted, 
coupling his advice, however, with a tender of resignation 



DISRAELI AS LEADER OF THE PA BTY. 117 

should it seem more conducive to Her Majesty's personal 
convenience. Pestered with inquiries as to whether 
he had recommended an appeal to the present con- 
stituencies or the new ones, Mr. Disraeli said his 
advice had been quite general, and would include an 
appeal to either, but that he hoped it might be possible 
to make his appeal to the latter in the following 
autumn. With this statement, the Opposition was 
obliged to be contented, and with a few lingering growls, 
their anger gradually subsided. But it is perfectly 
clear that Mr. Disraeli had only followed the course 
prescribed by tlie Constitution in taking the opinion of 
the country before he retired from the helm. Had he 
been forced by the factiousness of Opposition to dis- 
solve before the new system was completed, and so 
necessitate two general elections, one upon the heels of 
the other, that would have been their fault, not his. 

Before the Session of 1868 was over, it fell to Mr. Dis- 
raeli's lot to propose a vote of thanks to the troops en- 
gaged in the Abyssinian war, which had been undertaken 
in 1867 to obtain the release of some Englishmen kept 
in prison by the King of that country. In the course 
of his speech the Prime Minister said that Englishmen 
must take a peculiar interest in the fact that '* the 
standard of St. George had been hoisted on the moun- 
tains of Rasselas." It has been alleged that Johnson 
was not thinking of the real mountains of Abyssinia 
when he wrote Rasselas, The objection would be 
hypercritical in any case. But in my edition of Lord 
Beaconsfield's speeches, will be found some information 
supplied by Lord Stanley of Alderley, which makes it 
almost certain that Johnson was thinking of the real 
mountains when he wrote."^ 

* See Speeches, vol. ii. p. 129. 



118 LIFE OF LOEB BEACONSFIELD. 

On the eve of the General Election of 1868, Mr. 
Disraeli issued an address to his constituents, brief 
indeed, but expressing a great truth with that terse 
and concise gravity which is the highest excellence of 
that kind of composition. 

So long as there is in this country the connection through the 
medium of a Protestant Sovereign between the State and the National 
Church, religious liberty is secure. That security is now assailed by 
various means and on different pleas ; but admidst the discordant 
activity of many factions there moves the supreme purpose of one 
power. The philosopher may flatter himself he is advancing the 
cause of enlightened progress ; the sectarians may be roused to exer- 
tion by anticipations of the downfall of ecclesiastical systems. These 
arc transient efforts, vain and passing aspirations. The ultimate 
trmmph, were our Church to fall, would be to that power which 
would substitute for the authority of one sovereign the supremacy of 
a foreign prince, to that power with whose traditions, learning, and dis- 
cipline, and organization our Church alone has hitherto been able to 
cope, and that, too, only when supported by a determined and devoted 
people. 

Mr. Disraeli, however, had overrated the strength of 
his own position, and the comparative force of the dif- 
ferent opinions which were arrayed against each other in 
the country. On the one hand was the strong Protes- 
tant feeling of England and Scotland, and the support 
which might reasonably be expected from the newly 
enfranchised classes. On the other lay the combined 
armies of Nonconformity and Popery, laying aside 
their mutual hostility as they have done before in 
their common hatred of the Establishment, and both 
backed up by the rising strength of the Radicals, who 
are naturally in favour of all revolutions, whether civil 
or ecclesiastical. The event proved that the latter 
combination was the stronger. Mr. Disraeli, at the 
Mansion House dinner on the 9th of November, pre- 
dicted a victory, and boasted that the " arms of precision '* 



DISRAELI AS LEADER OF THE PARTY. 119 

— whatever he may have meant by the expression — 
were on the Conservative side. He was doomed to 
disaj^pointment, and the verdict of the country con- 
signed him once more to five years of opposition. 

On this period of his life we need not linger long. 
He did not take a very prominent part in the debates 
on either the Irish Cliurch Bill or the Irish Land Bill. 
He had said what he had to say about the Church in 
his speech on Mr. Gladstone's Resolution, when he 
referred to the words which he had used in 1844, and 
which had been turned against him in the debate — ** an 
alien church, a starving population, and an absentee 
Hristocracy.'"* He said the situation was changed now, 
for the people were no longer starving, and the pro- 
prietors were no longer absentees. As to the alien 
church, of course, he could say nothing, and his views 
on that subject will be deferred to a later chapter. 

During the session of 1869-70, he seemed, in fact, 
to be " lying by." But the breaking out of the French 
and German War in 1870, and the question of the 
neutrality of Belgium which arose out of it, drew forth 
from Mr. Disraeli, on the 1st of August, perhaps one 
of the most powerful speeches on foreign affairs which 
he ever delivered. After calling on the House of 
Commons to take note that there were " vast ambitions 
stirring in Europe," he went on to remind it of what 
took place in 1853, and it is important to quote these 
words because of what occurred in 1876,"^ and because 
of the light which they throw on what Mr. Disraeli 
meant by the " armed neutrality," which he recommended 
England to observe. Admitting the advantage of pos- 
sessing a strong Government at such a moment, com- 
posed of able afid experienced men, he said that in 

* See page 140-43. 



120 LIFE OF LOED JBEACONSFIFLD. 

1853 we had a still stronger Government, composed of 
still abler men, and yet what happened? "It was at 
this very period of the year, at the end of July, that, 
after two months of hesitation, Russia crossed the 
Pruth, and we have it upon record, we have it upon 
authoritative and authentic evidence^ that Russia would 
not have crossed the Pruth had England at that time 
been decided ; had she told Russia that it was a ques- 
tion of war with England. . . . What did it end in ? 
In the March of next year you had to go to war with 
Russia, because she had crossed the Pruth in the pre- 
ceding July, and involved herself in war with Turkey." 
A word in time would have prevented the Crimean war. 
But for a neutral power to be able to speak that word, 
her neutrality must be an armed neutrality. What he, 
therefore, wished to impress upon the public was that, 
if we desired to prevent the violation of the treaties 
guaranteeing Luxemburg and Belgium, our neutrality 
must be an armed neutrality, for it was evident from the 
secret treaty that both France and Prussia would have 
violated them without remorse. 

In the following year, however, when the two great 
Irish measures had been passed, Mr. Disraeli descended 
into the arena again with all his wonted vigour. At the 
commencement of the session he spoke twice on the 
Treaty of Paris,"^ with great force and great mastery 
of the question. On the famous Westmeath Com- 
mittee he attacked the Government with an energy of 
sarcasm which reminded one of the Peelite period. 

The right honourable gentleman opposite (Mr. Gladstone) was 
elected for a specific purpose: he was the Minister who alone was 

* Russia had announced her intention of abrogating of her own 
accord the article in the Ti'eaty of Paris providing for the neutrali- 
eation of the Black Sea. Select Speeches, yoI. p. ii. 133. 



DISEAELI AS LEADER OF THE PARTY, 121 

capable to cope with these long-enduring and mysterious evils that 
had tortured and tormented the civilisation of England. The right 
honourable gentleman persuaded the people of England that with 
regard to Irish politics he was in possession of the philosopher's 
stone. Well, Sir, he has been returned to this House with an immense 
majority, with the object of securing the tranquillity and content of 
Ireland. Has anything been grudged him ? Time, labour, devotion 
- — whatever has been demanded has been accorded, whatever has been 
proposed has been carried. Under his influence and at his instance 
we have legalised confiscation, consecrated sacrilege, condoned high 
treason ; we have destroyed churches, we have shaken projDerty to its 
foundation, and we have emptied gaols ; and now he cannot govern a 
country without coming to a parliamentary committee ! The right 
honourable gentleman, after all his heroic exploits, and at the head 
of his great majority, is making government ridiculous. 

Mr. Disraeli opened the Session of 1872 with de- 
claring that during the whole of the preceding autumn 
Ministers had lived in " a blaze of apology.^' And when 
the Ballot Bill was introduced he declared that the time 
had gone by when the country stood in need of the 
ballot. The Prime Minister had, he said, " passionately 
embraced a corpse.'' 

It was during the Easter holidays of this year, 1872, 
that Mr. Disraeli paid a long-promised visit to Lanca- 
shire, and delivered a long speech at Manchester, shortly 
after Mr. Gladstone had been present at a great Liberal 
reception in the same city ; a circumstance which fur- 
nished the subject of a cartoon to Funch illustrating a 
quotation from Bombastes : — 

I too have heard on inky Irwell's shore 

Another lion give a louder roar. 

And the first lion thought the last a bore 

The gist of this speech lies in the one sentence. 
" The programme of the Conservative party is to main- 
tain the institutions of the country." We have then 



122 LIFE OF LORD BFAC0N8FIELD. 

an exhaustive consideratiou of the various component 
parts of that Constitution, and the advantages of each, 
especially of the monarchy, which had then been recently 
attacked in a lecture at Newcastle by Sir Charles 
Dilke. Some remarks on the union of Church and State 
follow; then comes the condition of the people, both 
agricultural and manufacturing, with some reference to 
the doctrines of Fenianism ; and the speech concludes 
with a description of the Ministry and their conduct of 
foreign affairs, which, whatever its justice, will long 
be remembered for its felicitous imagery and biting 
satire. 

It was in this speech that the following passage 
occurs, which really has more literal truth in it than 
the jocular rhetoric of Mr. Disraeli invariably pos- 
sessed : — 

But, gentlemen, as time advanced, it was not difHcuIt to perceive 
that extravagance was being substituted for energy by the Govern- 
ment. The unnatural stimulus was subsiding. Their paroxysms 
ended in prostration. Some took refuge in melancholy, and their 
eminent chief alternated between a menace and a sigh. As I sat 
opposite the Treasury Bench the Ministers reminded me of one of 
those marine landscapes not very unusual on the coasts of South 
America. You behold a range of exhausted volcanos. Not a flame 
flickers on a single pallid crest. But the situation is still dangerous. 

This speech was followed up by another at the Crystal 
Palace on the 24th of June, which was in some respects 
a repetition of the former, laying down the Conservative 
programme as the " maintenance of the Empire, the 
preservation of our institutions, and the improvement of 
the condition of the people." 

Before the end of the year it became apparent that 
the Gladstone Ministry had lost its hold upon the 
country. But '* the perfect wife,'' who had cheered so 



DISRAELI AS LEADER OF THE PARTY. 123 

many of her husband's darker hours, was not spared to 
witness the brilliant dawn that was at hand, " to share 
the triumph or partake the gale." Mrs. Disraeli, whom 
Her Majesty had created Lady Beaconsfield in 1869, died 
in the winter of 1872, and Mr. Disraeli might almost have 
said with Johnson that success came to him at last when 
lie was old and couldnotenjoy it,whenhe was solitary and 
could not impart it. Deprived of her active sympathy, 
he seems still, however, to have been sustained by her 
memory; and ceitainly his judgment was never more 
conspicuous than in the Ministerial crisis of 1873. 
Defeated on the Dublin University Bill by a majority 
of three, Mr. Gladstone at once resigned, and Her 
Majesty, without a moment's delay, summoned Mr. 
Disraeli to her councils. Contrary to the judgment of 
some of his friends at the time, he declined to take 
office, assuring Her Majesty at the same time that he 
should have no difficulty in constructing an Adminis- 
tration, but that he could not undertake to do so with 
the existing House of Commons. Nor did it suit Mr. 
Disraeli to take office and dissolve Parliament. As he 
pointed out to the House in his explanatory statement, 
a new Government on coming into office cannot dis- 
solve at once. The mere formation of the Ministry is 
a work of time. The time necessary for obtaining that 
accurate knowledge of the state of our foreign relations, 
and of our financial prospects, which is accessible only 
to men in office, and without which an incoming 
Ministry can hardly appeal to the country on any de- 
finite principles, is still greater. Practically, said Mr. 
Disraeli, he should have to finish the Session before he 
could dissolve Parliament, and what would happen 
in the interval ? He knew only too well from bitter 
experience. 



124 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 

We should have what is called " fair play," that is to say, no vote 
of want of confidence would be proposed, and chiefly because it 
would be of no use. Thei'e would be no wholesale censure, but retail 
humiliation. A right honourable gentleman will come down here, he 
will arrange his thumb-screws and other instruments of torture on 
this table — we shall never ask for a vote without a lecture ; we shall 
never perform the most ordinary routine oifice of government without 
there being annexed to it some pedantic and ignominious condition. 

I wish to express nothing but what I know from painful personal 
experience. No contradiction of the kind I have just encountered 
could divest me of the painful memory ; I wish it could. I wish it 
was not my duty to take this view of the case. For a certain time we 
should enter into the paradise of abstract resolutions. One day 
honourable gentlemen cannot withstand the golden opportunity of 
asking the House to affirm that the income-tax should no longer form 
one of the features of our Ways and Means. Of course a proposition 
of that kind would be scouted by the right honourable gentleman and 
all his colleagues ; but then they might dine out that day, and the 
resolution might be carried, as resolutions of that kind have been. Then 
another honourable gentleman, distinguished for his knowledge of 
men and things, would move that the diplomatic service be abolished. 
While honourable gentlemen opposite were laughing in their sleeves 
at the mover, they would vote for the motion in order to put the 
(jrovcrnment into a minority. For this reason. Why should men, 
they would say, govern the country who are in a minority ? totally 
foi'getting that we had acceeded to office in the spirit of the Constitu- 
tion, quite oblivious of the fountain and origin of the position we 
occupied. And it would go very hard if on some sultry afternoon 
some honourable member should not " rush in where angels fear to 
tread," and successfully assimilate the borough and the county fran- 
chise. And so things would go on until the bitter end — until at last 
even the Appropriation Bill has passed. Parliament is dissolved, and 
we appeal to those millions who, perhaps six months before, might 
have looked upon us as the vindicators of intolerable grievances, but 
who now receive us as a defeated, discredited, and degraded Ministry, 
whose services can be neither of value to the Grown nor a credit to 
the nation. 



Mr. Gladstone seemed inclined to lay down the 
doctrine that no leader of Opposition is entitled to give a 
vote calculated to defeat the Minister unless he is prepared 
to take his place. Such a doctrine, if generally acted on^ 



DISRAELI AS LEADER OF TEE PARTY. 125 

would make all effective criticism impossible. A states- 
man strong enough to take the Minister's place would 
not long remain in Opposition, and one not strong 
enough would have no right to exercise the power which 
alone makes an Opposition formidable. Mr. Gladstone 
resumed office, and the session came to a close without 
any further incident of importance. 

In the autumn of 1873 Mr. Disraeli was chosen Lord 
Kector of the University of Glasgow, an honour which 
was renewed in 1874, when he defeated Mr. Emerson 
by a majority of two hundred. The Tory purty had 
now for the time become the popular party in the 
country. Of that there could be no doubt. The 
measures of the Government had produced consider- 
able irritation in the nation, which was not dimi- 
nished either by their administrative failures,^ or by 
certain equivocal transacti ms, which produced a great 
sensation at the time, though it is needless to recapitu- 
late them now. 

The vngue floating discontent thus gradually en- 
gendered resulted in a state of public opinion, to- 
wards the close of Mr. Gladstone's Government, 
which was sufficient to account for its overthrow, 
even had the nation been indifferent to Toryism. But 
it was not. Concurrently with the active dislike of Mr. 
Gladstone's policy, both foreign and domestic, had grown 
up a feeling that some injustice had been done to the Con- 
servatives. The country had enjoyed five years for reflec- 
tion. People saw that after all the Conservatives had 
been the party which effected the extension of the 



* Mr. Disraeli's Bath letter, in which he descvihed the policy of the 
Government as one of " plundering and blundering," was thought no 
exaggeration at the time. 



126 LIFE OF LORD BEAOONSFIELD, 

franchise, let them have thought ahoutit what they might. 
It was brought home to the working classes that the 
Conservatives were the authors of that beneficent factory 
legislation which the Liberals had so strenuously resisted, 
and they began to understand too that Conservative 
principles of foreign policy might be more advantageous 
to the people than Liberal ones. The Church also, 
during these five years, had made great progress among 
the working classes. Many old prejudices had been 
dissipated, and many new ideas had dawned upon the 
labouring population, when the General Election of 
1874 revealed the fact that the existence of the Con- 
servative working man was not a dream. 

Add to this that, by skilfully taking advantage of every 
opportunity that occurred, and of every mistake committed 
bv his opponents, in order to draw out those ingenious and 
suggestive contrasts between Conservatism and Liberal- 
ism, which for nearly thirty years formed so marked a 
feature in all his political addresses, Mr. Disraeli had suc- 
ceeded in disturbing very materially the vulgar concep- 
tion of Toryism which had prevailed in England from 
the Peace to the middle of the present century, and we 
shall understand that other causes were at work besides 
weariness of sensational legislation to ensure the Con- 
servative victory of 1874. Of the contrasts to which 
reference has been made, though the' effect might be 
heightened by that dexterous manipulation of phrases in 
which he was so great an adept, the foundation was 
sufficiently real to secure for them a place among the 
recognised topics of the party ; and, though they might 
be too fine-drawn for middle aged men of business, 
there is no doubt that over the minds of a younger 
generation, always pleased with what is subtle and 
adroit, they exercised considerable influence. 



DISRAELI AS LEADER OF THE PARTY, 127 

Her Majesty dissolved Parliament in January 1874, 
Mr. Gladstone promising the people that if he was again 
returned to power he would abolish the income tax. The 
answer to his appeal was a Conservative majority of fifty. 
The result was largely due to the action of the working- 
classes in the towns, and Mr. Disraeli's severest critics 
were forced to admit that he had taken the measure of 
the British workmen more accurately than themselves. 
The fact is, that those who denied the possibility of the 
Conservative working man, proceeded on the assump- 
tion that all his instincts were selfish. They knew 
that he had been taught to associate cheap food, high 
wages, and reduced taxes with the political creed re- 
presented by Mr. Bright and Mr. Gladstone, and they 
reasoned that no counter attraction could possibly be 
strong enough to detach him from the Liberal Party. 
The elections of 1868, of course, strengthened the con- 
viction. But it was seen in a very short time that such 
views were entirely superficial, and that in relying on 
the existence of a deeper chord of feeling in the work- 
ing classes, which would respond at once to appeals of 
a more generous character, Mr. Disraeli had shown his 
knowledge of human nature and of English human 
nature in particular. He spoke to them of Eng- 
land ; of her glory and her duty; of the imperial in- 
heritance which their ancestors had won, and which 
they must transmit to their posterity ; of the proud 
position which she occupied among the nations of the 
world, and of the divine mission which it was her pri- 
vilege to fulfil in the spread of civilisation and religion. 
In an age of economy and materialism, of cheap break- 
fast tables, and bread and butter prosperity, these ac- 
cents fell upon the public ear, long unaccustomed to such 
sounds, with thrilling power. It may be perfectly true 



128 LIFE OF LOUD BEACOl^SFIELB. 

that in these appeals to the popular imagination, and to 
the poetic and romantic element of which almost every 
man has some small share in his composition, Mr. Dis- 
raeli was occasionally bombastic, grandiose, or turgid> 
But through all the gorgeous vapours and fantastic 
shapes in which his eloquence occasionally clothed itself, 
a real truth was always visible, and ever and anon flashed 
out with startling and convincing brightness. This was 
the secret of Mr. Disraeli's power with the masses : and 
that they should not understand it who believed that the 
people of England were incapable of rising to any loftier 
conception of national life than had been propounded 
by the Manchester school, was natural- enough. 

It is also to be remembered that Mr. Disraeli, even 
when he could not secure the votes, always commanded 
the admiration of the English people. They liked his 
pluck, his humour, his cynicism, his audacious eccen- 
tricity, and the blows he had levelled at the '* big-wigs." 
They regarded him, at the same time, as a man of the 
people, whose escutcheon was his pen, and who had 
lought his own way to greatness and power through 
tremendous obstacles. 

Thus, from whatever point of view he was regarded, 
whether judged by his opinions, his character, or his 
history, personally, politically, or socially, he was emi- 
nently an interesting man. And the interest which he 
excited himself was communicated in some measure to 
the party of which he was the leader. Toryism began 
to appear the more picturesque creed of the two. The 
people were tired of the whitey-brown monotony of 
middle-class Liberalism. '' 1 *ra all for the nobs," says 
the factory girl in Sf/bil, " if we can't have our own 
man." And the sentiment is perfectly natural. 
Torvism and Socialism have this in common, at all 



LISBAELI AS LEADER OF THE PARTY. 129 

events, that they both lift us out of the region of the 
commonplace, and appeal to ideas, though the conclu- 
sions derived from them may be absolutely contradic- 
tory of each other. 

As soon as Mr. Gladstone saw that tlie elections left 
hira no hope of a majority, he followed Mr. Disraeli's 
example in 1868, and hastened to resign his office, 
without waiting for the meeting of Parliament. Mr. 
Disraeli was now commissioned by the Queen once more 
to undertake the task of forming a Conservative Admi- 
nistration. 

Melioribus opto 
Auspiciis, et quae fuerit minus obvia Grails. 

He received Her Ma^jesiy's commands on the 18ih of 
February, and in about three weeks all his arrange- 
ments were completed. The following composed the 
Cabinet : — 

Mr. Disraeli, First Lord of the Treasury. 
Lord Cairns, Lord Chancellor. 
The Duke of Richmond, President of the Council. 
The Earl of Malmesbury, Privy Seal. 
The Earl of Derby, Foreign Secretary. 
Marquis of Salisbury, Secretary for India. 
Earl of Carnarvon, Colonial Secretary. 
Mr. Gathorne Hardy, Secretary for War. 
Mr. R. A. Cross, Home Secretary. 
Mr. Ward Hunt, First Lord of the Admiralty. 
Sir Stafford Northcote, Chancellor of the Exche- 
quer, 
Lord John Manners, Postmaster-General. 

Among the members not in the Cabinet, Mr. Disraeli 
found efficient colleagues in Lord Sandon, Mr. Sclater 

9 



130 LIFE OF LOEJD BEAC0N8FIELD. 

Booth, Mr. Clare Sewell Read, Lord George Hamilton, 
and Mr. Bourke. 

He had now, as it seemed, a fair chance of realising 
some of his favourite ideas. It is true, he was sixty- 
eight years of age. But he was seven years younger than 
Lord Palmerston when he became Prime Minister for 
the second time in 1859, and a year younger than Lord 
Aberdeen when he went to the Treasury in 1853. He 
had always been considered a man of vigorous constitu- 
tion, and his frame was well built and robust. Yet 
certain it is that no sooner was he in office than he 
seemed rather disposed to rest upon his laurels, and 
leave the active work of legislation to his colleagues. 
Unfortunately for himself, however, he had not been in 
office more than two months before a Bill was introduced 
by the Archbishop of Canterbury which affected Mr. 
Disraeli during the whole remainder of his life. This 
was the Public Worship Regulation Bill, which was 
brought in on the 20th of April, and read a third time 
in the House of Lords on the 25th of June. In the 
House of Commons the measure was entrusted to Mr. 
Russell Gurney, and it was uncertain almost to the last 
moment which side Mr. Disraeli would espouse. So 
far the Government had treated it as an open question ; 
and the Marquis of Salisbury, the new Secretary of 
State for India, had not concealed his dislike of it. In 
the House of Commons, Mr. Hardy (Lord Cranbrook), 
spoke in the same strain ; and it was not till Mr. 
Disraeli rose on the 15th of July that the Anti- 
Ritualists knew what a powerful ally they were to find. 
We read in the Life of Bishop Wilherforce that the 
Prime Minister only made up his mind to support the 
measure on the morning of the day when informed that 
all the Bishops were in favour of it, and that if it was 



DISRAELI AS LEADER OF THE PARTY. 131 

rejected, disestablishment must very speedily follow. 
His first impulse was to oppose it ; and had he been the 
Mr. Disraeli of Gonimishy and Syhil he certainly would 
have done so. As it was, he made the unfortunate decla- 
ration that this was a Bill *' to put down " Ritualism, 
and that he intended to support it with that object. 
These words were remembered against him to the day of 
his death, and made him enemies among the clergy, 
who had only too many opportunities of influencing the 
popular vote. In reality Mr. Disraeli meant no harm. 
He was very careful to distinguish between the High 
Church, of which he spoke in terms of high eulogy, 
and the Ritualist party, which he conceived to be an 
excresence from it, small in point of numbers and abilitv, 
and deliberately adopting practices symbolical of those 
Romish doctrines which the Church of England has 
condemned. This is what he meant. That he did not 
understand Ritualism is more than probable. But the 
Ritualists did not choose to accept this hypothesis in 
extenuation of the offence which he had given them; 
and remained his bitter enemies to the last. 

It is neither necessary nor possible to discuss at any 
length the series of domestic measures passed by Mr. 
Disraeli's Administration during its six years' lease of 
office. When he laid down that one of the cardinal 
doctrines of the Conservative policy was the improve- 
ment of the condition of the people he was thoroughly 
in earnest. In the speech at Manchester in 1872, to 
which I have already referred, occurs the sanitas sanita- 
turn omnia sanitas, which one of his oponents soon after 
derided as "a policy of sewage." Mr. Disraeli retorted on 
him in his speech at the Crystal Palace with merited 
severity, pointing out how deeply interested the working 
classes were in this matter, and promising the honour- 

9 * 



132 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIELB, 

able gentleman that the laugh would soon be turned 
against himself. Accordingly when he came into office 
he lost no time in fulfilling the pledges which he had 
given in Opposition ; and between 1874 and 1879 he 
placed upon the Statute Book no less than fifteen Acts 
of Parliament, all directed to the benefit of the public 
health, the improvement of the condition of the poor, 
and the removal of the special grievances under which 
they believed themselves to be suffering. These are the 
Factories Act and the Licensing Act (1874), the Con- 
spiracy and Protection to Property Act, the Masters and 
Workman's Act, the Artizans' Dwellings Act, the Public 
Health Act, the Friendly Societies Act (1875), the 
Commons Act, the Pollution of Eivers Act, tlie Mer- 
cantile Shipping Act (1876), the Canal Boats Act, and 
Poor Law Amendment Act (1877), the Factories and 
Workshops Act, the Cattle Diseases Act (1878), and the 
Artizans' Dwellings Act Amendment Act (1879). 

To the farmers he gave the Agricultural tloldings 
Act, which changed the presumption of law in favour 
of the tenant, though it was forgotten in subsequent 
discussions that Mr. Disraeli himself always spoke of 
it as an experiment, which could be amended afterwards 
if necessary. To the local ratepayers he afforded a 
large instalment of that relief to which he had admitted 
them to be entitled ; while our system of local admini- 
stration was greatly improved by the Eating Act, 
the Highways Act, and the Prisons Act, of which the 
first seem to have given general satisfaction, 
though it must be owned that some clauses of the last 
interfere more than was desirable with that local 
authority and jurisdiction which Mr. Disraeli himself 
was always so anxious to maintain. 

Two efforts were made to reform our whole system of 



DISEA ELI AS LEADER OF TEE PARTY. 133 

county government on a very much larger scale, by the 
establishment of " County Boards," and two Bills were 
brought in by Mr. Sclater Booth, the present Lord 
Basing, with that object. Both, however, were with- 
drawn, as the time was not ripe for a compromise 
between the supporters of the existing system, and 
those who would subvert it altogether; and Mr. Dis- 
raeli was not destined to add the settlement of this 
very important question — more important than it 
seems at first sight — to the list of his achievements. 
But his Ministry, on the whole, can show a record of 
social legislation which will contrast very favourably 
with that of any other Government during the present 
century. Many of these measures were warmly appre- 
ciated by the working classes. Mr. Macdonald, the 
working class member for Stafford, spoke to that effect, 
and the prosy details of ordinary politics are lighted 
up for the moment with a gleam of real poetic interest 
as we think of the author of Si/dil being publicly 
thanked in the House of Commons by the representa- 
tives of Labour. 

In the field of education a measure was carried 
through by Lord Sandon to amend some of those 
provisions in the Act of 1870, which pressed unjustly 
on denominational schools, and some educational 
measures for Ireland can also be added to the list. 
But the chief Bill of this description was the Universities 
Bill,»intended to meet the views of that class of Uni- 
versity Eeformers who desired to see the- restoration of 
university teaching, as distinct from the collegiate or 
tutorial system ; and likewise to encourage among 
resident members the pursuit of learning and scholar- 
ship for their own sakes. To make Oxford a centre 
of learning, as well as a great seat of education, was 



134 LIFE OF LOBD BEACONSFIFLD, 

the object of the new school, and they had the sym- 
pathies of Mr. Disraeli, or, as we must now call him, 
Lord Beaconsfieid, on their side. Opinions may differ 
with regard to the operation of the new system, but 
nobody can doubt that it was honestly intended to pro- 
mote the interests of literature and culture, or that it 
had the warm approval of a statesmen who used to 
boast that he was born in a library. 

The chief ecclesiastical questions with which the 
Ministry of 1874-80 will be remembered, besides the 
Public Worship Eegulation Bill, are the Abolition of 
Lay Patronage in Scotland in 1874, the Bishoprics 
Bills of 1877 and 1878, and the attempt made by Lord 
Salisbury in the House of Lords to settle the Burials 
Question. The two Bishoprics Bills, in conformity with 
which the six new sees of Truro, St. Albans, Liverpool, 
Southwell, Newcastle, and Wakefield have been erected, 
were described by the Archbishop of Canterbury as 
the greatest ecclesiastical reform since the Reforma- 
tion, and the Church of England may venerate the 
memory of Lord Beaconsfieid for this good action, at 
all events, if for no other. Here, too, he was only 
pursuing when in office the policy he had sketched in 
opposition, an extension of the Episcopate having been 
recommended by him fifteen years before the time when 
he was actually able to undertake it. 

The attempt to settle the Burials question in 1876 
was unfortunately frustrated by the action of the late 
Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Tait, who, by suddenly 
accepting an amendment moved by Lord Harrowby, 
compelled the Government to abandon the measure. 
But we may fairly doubt whether, had it become law, 
the agitation would have been permanently quelled. 

Last but not least on our list is the Act of Parliament 



DISRAELI AS LEADER OF THE PARTY. 135 

by which Mr. Disraeli has linked his name for ever with 
the style and dignity of the English monarchy. The 
Royal Titles Act, enabling Her Majesty to assume the 
title of Empress of India, was passed in the Session of 
1876, and was resisted by the Opposition with a degree 
of warmth which at this distance of time appears abso- 
lutely childish. Mr. Lowe, the present Lord Sher- 
brooke, made himself particularly conspicuous in 
declaiming against it, and actually stated, in a speech 
made at Retford during the Easter recess, that the 
Queen had solicited two previous Prime Ministers for 
the same title, and that both had refused to recommend 
it; but that now, having found a more pliant instru- 
ment, she had succeeded in her object. It can readily 
be understood how Mr. Disraeli handled this atrocious 
fiction, and a few days afterwards Mr. Lowe was com- 
pelled to apologise, and to acknowledge that his reference 
to the Queen was a breach of parliamentary decorum. 

Before passing on to the foreign policy of Lord 
Beaconsfield's Government, we must remind our readers 
that on the 12th of August 1876 it became known to 
the public that Mr. Disraeli's place in the House of 
Commons, in which he had played so great a part 
for nearly forty years, would know him no more. His 
health and strength seemed no longer equal to the 
daily-increasing labour of leading the popular as- 
sembly, though high medical authorities have hazarded 
the conjecture that by retiring from it when he did, he 
rather shortened his life than prolonged it. Had he 
retired ten years sooner, says the leading medical journal 
of the day, he might have experienced great benefit from 
the change. As it was, it came too late : when constant 
excitement would, perhaps, have sustained his vital 
energies longer than comparative repose. 



13C LIFE OF LOBD BEAGONSFIELD. 

On the 11th of August he delivered his last speech 
in the House of Commons, under circumstiinoes 
which may, perhaps, have suggested to his mind a 
striking contrast to his. first. The House now hung 
with rapt attention on every word that fell from him ; 
and on this occasion they were, as it was fitting they 
should be, words of no ordinary weight. " We are 
always treated," he said, "as if we had some pecu- 
liar alliance with the Turkish Government, as if we 
were their peculiar friends, and expected to uphold 
them in any enormity they might commit." There 
was not one jot or one tittle of evidence to support such 
an assumption. *' We are, it is true, the allies of the 
Sultan of Turkey ; but so is Austria, so is Russia, so 
is France. We are also their partners in a Tripartite 
Treaty,"^ in which we not only generally but singly, 
guarantee the integrity of Turkey. These are our en- 
gagements, and engagements which we endeavour to 
fulfil ; and if these engagements, renovated and repeated 
only four years ago by the wisdom of Europe, are to 
be treated by the honourable and learned gentleman f 
as idle wind and chafi", and we are to be told that our 
political duty is to expel the Turks by force to the other 
side of the Bosphorus, then politics ceases to be an art, 
statesmanship becomes a mere mockery, and the House 
of Commons, instead of being faithful to its traditions, 
had better resolve itself into one of those revolutionary 
clubs which settle all political and social questions with 
as much ease as the honourable and learned gentle- 
man himself." 

Next day the secret v/as out, and Mr. Disraeli ex- 
changed the name by which he had been known to the 

* 1856. t Sir W. Harcourt. 



DISRAELI AS LEADER OF THE PARTY. 137 

public for nearly fifty years, and the place endeared to 
him by a thousand interesting and elevating associations, 
for the title of Lord Beaconsfield and the leadership of 
the House of Lords. 

The foreign policy of Lord Beaconsfield will be 
judged, of course, by his policy on the Eastern Ques- 
tion. The Indian and African troubles which arose 
during his administration were provincial and colonial, 
not foreign ; and no other European question troubled 
the horizon between 1874 and 1880. 

It was a fixed idea, not only with Lord Beaconsfield, 
but with a large poition of the British people, that 
since the death of Lord Palmerston, England had lost 
her old place among the nations of Europe, and that 
the great Powers of the Continent were inclined to take 
very little account of her in considering the forces with 
which they had to reckon in the execution of their own 
plans. The paramount necessity of convincing them 
that England was still the England of Palmerston, 
Canning, and Pitt, weighed, perhaps, with Lord Beacons- 
field almost as much as the duty of defending British 
interests. But it may come to be suspected hereafter 
that the demeanour of the Opposition was more to 
blame for the encouragement which it gave to Russia^ 
than the policy of Lord Beaconsfield for the encourage- 
ment which it gave to Turkey. 

The Eastern Question, which Lord Beaconsfield's evil 
genius called up to trouble him in his declining years, 
occupied the attention of England and of Europe for 
about three years — that is, from July 1875 to July 
1878. It was in the summer of the first-mentioned 
year that disturbances had broken out in the Euro- 
pean provinces of Turkey, but it was not till late in 
the autumn that they seemed likely to lead to serious 



138 LIFE OF LOED BFACONSFIELD. 

results. Lord Beaconsfield, however, was one of the first 
to appreciate their importance. On the 9th of November 
he told his audience in the Guildhall that they might 
be fraught with very critical consequences. And so 
they were. The first attempt on the part of the Powers 
to aid in composing these disturbances was made through 
Count Andrassy, the Austrian foreign minister, who 
proposed a scheme of administrative reform to the 
Porte which the revolted provinces might accept. This 
came to nothing, chiefly, as Lord Beaconsfield said, 
because it was *' inopportune " ; in other words, be- 
cause a country plunged in bankruptcy, as Turkey then 
was, and struggling with almost insuperable financial 
difficulties, was not in a position to carry out a great 
scheme of administrative reform. 

England signed the Note, but expected very little from 
it. The project fell through, and the insurrection con- 
tinued with varying success ; till at length, in the follow- 
ing May 1876, the Berlin Memorandum was drawn up, 
calling on Turkey, more imperatively and menacingly 
than in the Andrassy Note, to undertake these reforms. 
To this Memorandum England refused to be a party, 
because, as Lord Beaconsfield explained, in case these 
reforms were not executed within a given time, it im- 
plied the right of the Powers to enforce them by armed 
intervention, a right which Lord Beaconsfield repudiated 
as a violation of those treaty engagements which had 
been solemnly renewed and sanctioned so recently as 
1871. Lord Beaconsfield was treading exactly in the 
footsteps of both Mr. Canning and the Duke of 
Wellington. His language on the Berlin Memorandum 
might have been taken direct from some of Canning's 
despatches on the Greek Question in 1826 and 
1827. 



mSBAELI AS LEADER OF TEE PARTY. 139 

In the meantime, however, reports had been brought 
to this country, grossly exaggerated as they after- 
wards turned out to be, of the cruelties and outrages 
of the Turkish irregular troops in suppressing the 
rebellion. *' The Bulgarian Atrocities " were taken up 
by the Leaders of the Opposition, and flaming speeches 
delivered from one end of the kingdom to the other, 
denouncing alike the ruffians who committed them, the 
Turks who connived at them, and our own Government 
who were loudly accused of laughing at them. A speech 
delivered by Mr. Disraeli on the 2Gth of June was 
twisted into the most absurd perversion of its natural 
meaning. Referring to the tortures alleged to have 
been inflicted on Bulgarian prisoners, the Prime 
Minister merely said he was inclined to doubt the truth 
of these stories, because among the Turks *' a more ex- 
peditious mode of business was generally adopted." 
These words were instantly seized upon by a school of 
writers and talkers in this country who have done more 
to make earnestness ridiculous than a whole legion of 
cynics, and held up to public execration as a specimen 
of cold-blooded frivolity. The country rang with 
furious denunciations of the savages in Turkey and 
their sympathisers in Downing Street, which unques- 
tionably had the eflect of prolonging the resistance of 
the insurgents, and especially of the Servians, who con- 
tinued in arms till the following October. Then came 
the Russian Uliimatum demanding an armistice, which 
the Porte granted, and then the Conference of Constan- 
tinople in December, which Lord Salisbury attended 
as Plenipotentiary, but which proved abortive as all 
foresaw, the Turks steadily refusing to accept a High 
Commission nominated by foreigners to carry out 
internal reforms in the Turkish Empire. 



140 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 

The whole account of the negotiations and trans- 
actions of the year 1876 is to be found in an admirably 
clear and concise form in Lord Beaconsfield's Guildhall 
speech on the 9th of November, where we find stated 
more plainly than elsewhere the real reason of his 
refusal to accept the Berlin Memorandum. 

So matters went on till the following March, when 
finally a Protocol was drawn up and signed by the Great 
Powers, expressing a hope that, peace now being restored, 
Turkey would at length set about the business of reform 
in good earnest. *' The Powers/' it was said, ** propose 
to watch carefully the manner in which the promises of 
the Ottoman Government are carried into effect; and if 
their hopes should once more be disappointed . . . 
they reserve to themselves to consider in common as to 
the means which they may deem best fitted to secure 
the well-being of the Christian population and the in- 
terests of the general peace." These are nearly the 
terms of the Treaty of London of 1827 ; and two things 
things are clear from them : one that Turkey was to be 
allowed some time for carrying out these reforms, which 
in her then financial state could not be effected in a 
day; the other, that should it ever become necessary 
for the Powers to take further action, they must do so 
'* in common." This condition was in accordance with 
the Treaties of 1856 and 1871. But what followed ? 

Three weeks afterwards Eiissia declared war against 
Turkey, of her own accord, without either consulting 
her co-signatories, or giving any further notice to the 
Porte. A more flagrant insult to the other Powers, or 
a clearer violation of the law of nations, can scarcely 
be imagined. Lord Derby, on the 1st of May, wrote 
an indignant despatch to the Russian Government, 
characterising its conduct as it deserved. But thd 



DISRAELI AS LEADER OF THE PARTY. 141 

English Government did not think it necessary to 
treat it as a casus belli. 

Lord Beaconstield always kept before his mind two 
great principles of foreign policy ; first, that no 
engagement by which all the members of an alliance 
are equally bound can be set aside by one without the 
consent of all the rest ; secondly, that every State must 
be held to be the judge of its own interests, and has a 
right to interfere between belligerents when those in- 
terests are threatened. The violation of the first of 
these principles justifies any one of the contracting 
Powers in armed interference, but does not impose it 
as a duty unless the others are prepared to join in 
it. As regards the second, States as well as in- 
dividuals are bound by the rule of law so to use 
their own as not to injure what belongs to others ; 
and accordingly Lord Beaconsfield informed Russia, 
when the war broke out, that the neutrality of England 
must be '* conditional neutrality," dependent on the 
observance of this rule by the belligerents. As soon 
as it was set at defiance by the Treaty of San 
Stephano, which became known in England at the 
beginning of March 1878, he took immediate steps 
for recalling Russia to the due observance of her 
obligations. He insisted that the Treaty should be 
laid before the other Powers, that, in the words of the 
Protocol, they should consider it '' in common," and 
that the pacification of Eastern Europe should be the 
work of all. 

English interests being seriously menaced at the 
same time. Lord Beaconsfield did not hesitate for a 
moment to inform the Russian Government that, with 
or without allies, England was resolved to go to war 
unless these terms were immediately complied with. 



142 LIFE OF LORD BEAQ0N8FIELD. 

Russia paused in her path, and " stared with her foot 
on theprey.'^ Lord Beaconsfield called out the Reserves, 
and a division of our Indian Array was ordered to the 
Mediterranean. Then Russia saw we were in earnest, 
and loosened her grip upon the victim. By our 
steady and determined attitude, the rights of Europe 
had been vindicated, and the interests of England se- 
cured ; and since the first heat of factious opposition 
has subsided, the wisdom and courage displayed by 
Lord Beaconsfield at tbis particular crisis has been 
universally acknowledged. It cost him the services 
of two of his most able colleagues, Lord Derby and 
Lord Carnarvon, v/ho thought that the object to 
be gained was not worth the risk we ran of being plunged 
into a war with Russia. Lord Beaconsfield probably did 
not think the risk so great. England, he said, at the 
Lord Mayor's dinner to which I have already referred, 
if compelled to go to war, will not be obliged to ask 
herself whether she can bear a second or a third cam- 
paign. He knew at the same time that this was a 
question which Russia would be obliged to ask herself. 
And it is more than probable that after the Shipka Pass 
and the siege of Plevna had told their tale on the in- 
vaders, the first redcoat that set foot in Bulgaria would 
have been the signal for Russia to recross the Danube. 

Of course there were other contingencies to be 
taken into consideration, but so there always will 
be in every dispute in which we may be entangled 
with Russia. And, at all events. Lord Beacons- 
field's policy succeeded. Russia was compelled to 
give way, Constantinople was again saved, and the 
Turkish Empire in Europe, though shorn of its ori- 
ginal proportions, was still a fact. The " calm pride 
of England," which Mr. Matthew Arnold notices in 



DI8EAELI AS LEADEIi OF THE PARTY, 143 

the despatches of Lord Grenville, had again done its 
work. 

Lord Beaconsfield complained that the doctrine of 
English interests had been stigmatised as selfish. It is, 
he said, " as selfish as patriotism," and I may here 
perhaps be allowed to introduce a letter of Mr. Can- 
ning's on the same subject which on the 5th of Novem- 
ber 1822 he wrote to Sir Charles Bagot, our ambassador 
at Constantinople, '* You know my politics well enough 
to know what I mean when I say that for Europe I shall 
be desirous now and then to read England,^^ 

As soon as Russia had agreed to submit the Treaty 
of San Stephano to a European Council — a conces- 
sion, be it remembered, extorted from her exclusively 
by Lord Beaconsfield — it was arranged that a Con- 
gress should assemble at Berlin, whither accordingly 
Lord Beaconsfield and Lord Salisbury repaired about 
the middle of the month of June 1878. Of the 
Treaty of San Stephano, and of the Treaty of Berlin 
which superseded it, I can only say in other words 
what has already been said so often that the world, 
I fear, is weary of the subject. By the first of 
these treaties, extorted from the Turk with a halter 
round his neck, Turkey in Europe was virtually 
annihilated, and a new and independent province of 
Bulgaria (the *' big Bulgaria"") was constituted, ex- 
tending from the Danube to the iEgean, and stretching 
inland to the western boundaries of Macedonia. It left 
only a narrow strip of coast- line to Turkey, Constanti- 
nople being thus completely cut off from the outly- 
ing provinces of Bosnia and the Herzegovina ; and as 
the new province was to be placed entirely under the 
control of Russia, it was clear that from the moment 
this Treaty became law, Russia would be mistress of the 



144 LIFU OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 

Balkan provinces and the Black Sea, with a firm hold 
on the iEgean at the same time, the Sultan being left 
only, as a writer of the day expressed himself, with a 
palace and a garden. 

There were other 'provisions in the Treaty of a 
very mischievous and menacing tendency. But the 
"big Bulgaria" was the real giant to be slain, and 
it was soon found, when boldly confronted, that if his 
head was of brass his feet were only of clay. The 
Congress of Berlin simply tore the Treaty up ; and 
whoever wishes to understand the magnitude of the 
change which it effected should consult two speeches of 
Lord Beaconsfield's : one delivered soon after his return 
from Germany, on the 18th of July 1878, and another 
in reply to the Duke of Argyll, on the IGth of May 
1879. The general results may be briefly summarized 
as follows: — The Bulgaria of San Stephano extended 
from Widdin to Salonica, from Mangalia to Mount 
Grammos. It completely cut off, as we have pointed 
out, the seat of Government in Turkey from the out- 
lying provinces. It handed over large populations of 
Greeks and Mussulmans to Sclav rule, it strangled the 
small districts left to the Turks about Constantinople in 
its embraces. It contained 50,000 square miles, and a 
population of four millions. Its definitive frontiers 
were to be traced by a Russo-Turkish Commission, 
before the evacuation of Roumelia by the Russian army. 
The Bulgaria constituted by the Treaty of Berlin 
embraces an 'area of but 20,000 square miles, and a 
population of about a million and a half. It is thrust 
back more than a hundred miles from the ^gean, it 
loses the valuable port of Bourgas on theBiack Sea — the 
only safe port in that sea — and is separated from 
Turkey by the Balkans ; a line of defence which is 



DISRAELI AS LEADEU OF THE PARTY, 145 

left to the Turks, and which they may make impreg- 
nable. 

The Treaty, of course, was severely criticised at the 
time ; that was only to be expected. I can only refer 
my readers to the Parliamentary debates on the subject ; 
and then remind them, as Lord Beaconsfield continually 
did remind the public, that its results, if not all that 
could be wished for, had been gained without the cost 
of war. They were the fruits of skilful and coura- 
geous diplomacy. But, of course, they were not all 
which might have been extorted at the point of the 
sword, after a long and sanguinary struggle. The only 
question to be answered is whether the lesser advantages 
which we were able to secure with peace were not to 
be preferred to the larger ones which might have been 
obtained by war ? Two answers may be given to this 
question, and it is difficult to say which of them Lord 
Beaconsfield would have given had he spoken from the 
bottom of his heart. But the fact remains that the 
Treaty of Berlin cost us nothing; and whatever secu- 
rities it provided against the terrible scenes that must 
ensue if ever the dismemberment of Turkey shall be- 
come the avowed object of any European Power, were so 
much clear gain. 

On the familiar question of the " integrity of the 
Ottoman Empire,'^ Lord Beaconsfield's views were 
traditional, but not superannuated. His primary object 
was to bar the advance of Bussia to the Mediterranean, 
and to ensure that when the day comes. 

As come it must, 
When Troy's proud temples shall be laid in dust, 

the Power to step in and occupy the vacant place 
shall not be the Muscovite. The best means to that 

10 



146 LTFJJ] OF LORD BEAC0N8FIELD. 

end lay in the creation of a powerful independent 
State between the Adriatic and the Black Sea. But 
such a State could not be established in a day. It 
must be really, as well as nominally, independent ; a 
free Power, and not a Russian province. Lord Bea- 
consfield fully recognised the superiority of such a 
barrier over any other that could be created against 
Muscovite aggression. But in 1878 no materials 
existed for such an edifice. If we turn back to what 
Mr. Canning told the Greeks in 1826, and the condi- 
tions on which he was prepared to acknowledge their 
independence, we shall see that he, at all events, would 
have recognised the futility of attempting in 1878 to 
erect an independent kingdom out of the ruins of the 
Turkish Empire in Europe. With reference to the 
possible establishment of commercial relations with 
Greece, and other steps preliminary to a recognition of 
her independence, he distinctly asserted that this could 
not be done till Greece showed herself capable of 
maintaining an independent existence, of carrying on a 
Government of her own, and of controlling her own 
military and naval forces.* 

But Lord Beaconsfield's policy was distinctly shaped 
with a view to the realisation of this idea at some future 
time. For this purpose the grasp of Russia must at 
once be loosened from these provinces, and leisure 
must be secured for them to develop their internal 
resources, and gradually fit themselves for the indepen- 
dence which it was hoped would one day be their por- 
tion. To this end precise instructions were given to 
our ambassador at Constantinople, and to Mr. Michel, 
our representative at Sofia, to nurse the spirit of na- 

* Mr. Canning to Prince Lieven, Nov. 21, 1826. 



DISRAELI AS LEADER OF THE PARTY. 147 

tionality wherever they found it among the inhabitants 
of these countries, and to encourage them by every 
means in their power to acquire the faculty of self- 
government. In carrying out these instructions, they 
naturally gave umbrage to the many Russian officers 
who still lingered on the spot, and as soon as Lord 
Beaconsfield was driven from office, and the complaints 
of Russia reached the ears of Mr. Gladstone, Sir Henry 
Layard and Mr. Michel were recalled. 

As an independent State could not at that time be 
formed, it was necessary, in the meantime, to take other 
steps for providing against Russian conquest, and the 
only alternative was to persevere in the support of 
Turkey, and to strengthen the hands of Austria. Should 
it eventually turn out that no new State could be con- 
structed, and that the territory in question must be 
absorbed into one or other of the adjoining empires, it 
was better that it should not be Russia. An Austrian 
empire, stretching from Ragusa to Varna and from the 
Carpathians to the Balkans, or possibly farther still, 
should keep the Cossack from the Mediterranean for as 
many generations as statesmen are called on to fore- 
cast.* 

Lord Beaconsfield, in the speech already quoted 
{Nov. 9th, 1877), explained the nature and origin of the 
Anglo-Turkish Convention, which was simply a precau- 
tion adopted by this country for the security of the Eu- 
phrates Valley. She had given the Sultan her guarantee 
for the integrity of his Eastern possessions in Asia 
Minor, and had occupied Cyprus to enable her the 
more readily to carry out the engagement. She also 
undertook to urge on Turkey those administrative reforms 

* History of Toryism, p. 386. 

10 * 



148 LIFE OF LORD BEAC0N8FIELD. 

m her Asiatic provinces, which should take away all 
cause for Russian interference in future. The Anglo- 
Turkish Convention was, in fact, an Indian rather 
than a Turkish affair, and must stand or fall by its ex- 
pediency as a safeguard to our Indian Empire. The 
other Powers would co-operate with us in all the other 
branches of the Eastern Question, because they were 
interested in them themselves; but not in this one, in 
which England, accordingly, must look to ** her own 
resources only." It did not increase our responsibilities. 
It only lightened them by anticipating them. 

The meeting of Lord Beaconsfield with the other 
European statesmen who assembled at the Congress of 
Berlin, must have been a deeply interesting event to 
almost all of them. His fame, of course, had gone 
before him, and it seems that the reality rather ex- 
ceeded than fell short of their expectations. Lord Bea- 
consfield always addressed the Congress in English, 
and the combination of dignity and power which 
marked his best style of speaking seems to have made a 
profound impression on the group of continental states- 
men. Whenever he mingled in Berlin society, what 
struck the company most deeply was the well-known 
characteristics so familiar to us all in England, namely, 
his imperturbable demeanour. But he does not seem to 
have left behind him any specimens of his colloquial 
powers, such as made him famous among his country- 
men, for the few repartees which rumour attributes to 
him are too poor to have been really his. As soon, 
however, as he touched the shores of England on his 
return journey, the peculiar rhetoric of which he was so 
fond again came into play, and ** Peace with Honour," 
which he told the people of Dover he had brought back 
with him, soon became a household word. 



DISRAELI AS LEADER OF THE PAKTY. 149 

His return to London was one long ovation. At 
Charing Cross he was met by the Lord Mayor in his 
robes of office, and an assemblage of all that was most 
brilliant in the worlds of politics, of beauty, and of 
fashion. Dense crowds of working men thronged every 
inch of the way from the station to Downing Street to 
pay their tribute of homage to the hero of the hour. 
Banners waved, and triumphant arches stretched from 
house to house to greet the great statesman who had 
raised aloft again the name of England and re- 
burnished her bedimmed escutcheon. 

He made his entry into London on the 16th of July, 
and on the 27th be and Lord Salisbury were entertained 
at a great banquet by the members of the Conservative 
party in the Riding School at Kensington. A few days 
afterwards the freedom of the City was conferred upon 
them both by the London Corporation, and another 
grand banquet in their honour was held at the Guildhall. 
The speeches of both plenipotentiaries on both these 
occasions threw additional light on the settlement 
effected by Lord Beaconsfield. And it must not be 
forgotten that in the second of these two speeches Lord 
Beaconsfield confessed his belief that a more resolute 
attitude on the part of England in 1876 would have 
prevented the war altogether, as a similar display of 
firmness in 1853 would have prevented the Crimean 
war. He said, very generously, that he accepted his full 
share of the responsibility; but it was an open secret 
that the responsibility did not rest with him, unless it is 
thought that he ought to have resigned office rather than 
continue to sanction a policy of which he disapproved. 
But the public dwelt more, perhaps, on the humour and 
the sarcasm with which the Prime Minister retorted on his 
assailants than on the facts and arguments which were 



150 LIFJS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 

set before them. One Opposition statesman was 
described as '* inebriate with the exuberance of his 
own verbosity " ; to others was imputed " the hare- 
brained chatter of irresponsible frivolity." The world 
was contented to laugh without reflecting much on 
either the propriety or the taste of these sallies, and 
exultant "jingoism," as it was the fashion to call the 
warlike spirit of the day, carried everything before it, 
and exalted Lord Beaconsfield to as high a pinnacle 
of fame as has ever been reached perhaps by any English 
minister since the days of Chatham. 

Aspice ut insignis spoliis Marcellus opimis 
Ingreditur, victorque viros supereminet omnes. 

So said Mr. Gladstone in the House of Commons in 
reference to the crowning moment in Lord Beacons- 
field's career; and though the gale of popular favour was 
destined very soon to change, it needed but the dignity 
of adversity to restore him to a still higher place in 
public estimation than that which he had occupied before, 
a place which he will now possess for ever. 

His foreign policy must be considered as a whole, 
and the occupation of Cyprus, the purchase of the 
shares in the Suez Canal, and the ** scientific frontier" 
of Aff'ghanistan, were really all part and parcel of one 
great scheme for the security of our Lidian Empire. 
It was indispensable that England should possess some 
control over the new highway opened up to her Asiatic 
provinces, and the nation was not less satisfied with 
this stroke of policy on Lord Beaconsfield's part, than 
with the Treaty of Berlin, or the Convention which 
was its necessary supplement. 

Of the policy of the Affghan war of 1878-9 the best 
accounts are to be found in Lord Beaconsfield's speech in 



DISBAELI AS LEADER OF THE PARTY. 16 L 

the House of Lords on December lOtb, 1878, the speech 
at the Lord Mayor's dinner in the previous November, 
and in his speech on the evacuation of Candahar on the 
4th of March 1881. It was to this last speech that 
Lord Granville referred a few months afterwards,* when 
he said that he had known him swallow drugs in order 
to allay for a time the pangs of neuralgia, which would 
otherwise have prevented him from addressing the 
House of Lords wiih the necessary clearness and 
animation. In the speech at Guildhall he described 
" the scientific frontier," which had now been secured 
for us; and in the House of Lords he explained the 
difference between a scientific frontier and a haphazard 
frontier very pithily by saying that the former was one 
which could be defended by five thousand men, while 
the other would require a hundred thousand. But in a 
volume like the present we can take account only of 
general principles, and perhaps the following remarks 
will place Lord Beaconsfield's ideas before the public 
as clearly as anything else. They are taken from the 
December speech : — 

My Lords, you have an old policy with regard to the relations of 
this country, India, and Afghanistan, which has been approved by all 
public men. Lord Lawrence, whom we all speak of with great 
respect, though the Lord Privy Seal says we systematically insulted 
him, was most decided in his policy that there should be an English 
interest in Afghanistan, and that Russian influence in it should not for 
a moment bo tolerated. Well, what is your policy now ? Where will 
English interests be when you have evacuated Afghanistan ? What 
will be the state of Afghanistan? It will be a state of anarchy. 
We have always announced, as a reason for interfering in Afghanistan, 
that we cannot tolerate a state of anarchy on our frontiers. Is not 
that an argument as good for Russia as for us ? Will not the Rus- 
sians say, " Afghanistan is in a state of anarchy, and we cannot go on 
civilising Turkestan when Afghanistan is in a state of anarchy " ? 

* House of Lords, May 9th, 1881. 



152 LIFE OF LOBD BEACONSFIELB. 

Therefore you are furnishing Russia with an occasion for advancing. 
When I speak of this policy of Russia, I do not speak of it in a hos- 
tile spirit. Russia has a right to its policy as -well as England, 
Russia has as good a right to create an empire in Tartary as we have 
in India, She must take the consequences if the creation of her 
empire endangers our power. I see nothing in that feeling on the 
part of England which should occasion any want of friendliness 
between this country and Russia. We must guard against what must 
be looked upon as the inevitable designs of a very great Power 
When Lord Palmerston carried one of the greatest measures of his 
life — the fortification of the Channel, which was of much more im- 
portance than the retaining of Candahar — was that looked upon as a 
symbol of hostility to the French people? Everyone knows that 
Lord Palmerston was very friendly to the French alliance, and yet 
that was an operation directed immediately against France, for the 
purpose of putting an end to the continual fluctuations of bluster and 
fear which such a situation as England was in at that time must 
necessarily entail. 

What I see in the amendment is not an assertion of great principles, 
which no man honours more than myself. What is at the bottom of it 
is rather that principle of peace at any price which a certain party in 
this country upholds. It is that dangerous dogma which, I believe, 
aninaates the ranks before me at this moment, although many of them 
may be unconscious of it. That deleterious doctrine haunts the 
people of this country in every form. Sometimes it is a committee ; 
sometimes it is a letter ; sometimes it is an amendment to the 
Address ; sometimes it is a proposition to stop the supplies. The 
doctrine has done more mischief than any I can well recall that have 
been afloat in this century. It has occasioned more Avars than the 
most ruthless conquerors. It has disturbed and nearly destroyed that 
political equilibrium so necessary to the liberties of nations and the 
welfare of the world. It has dimmed occasionally for a moment even 
the majesty of England. And, my lords, to-night you have an oppor- 
tunity, which I trust you will not lose, of branding these opinions, 
these deleterious dogmas, with the reprobation of the Peers of Eng- 
land. 

In a passage in Coningshy the author says of Mr. 
Rigby that he had persuaded the world that he was 
not only clever, but also that he was always in luck, a 
quality which many people appreciate even more than 
capacity. Now one may surely assert that the result of 



DISRAELI AS LEADER OF THE PARTY, 153 

a long course of events had been to produce the contrary 
impression with regard to Lord Beaconsfield and the 
Tories. Many instances could be produced in support of 
this assertion. But it will be enough to remark on 
the very unfortunate conjunction of adverse circum- 
stances which closed round the last years of Lord 
Beaconsfield's Administration. The Zulu War, which 
ought to have been no more than one of those petty 
expeditions such as are almost inseparable from the 
possession of a great colonial empire, was swelled by 
mismanagement into an affair of the first magnitude, 
and all the disgrace and all the grief occasioned by 
Isandula were visited on the head of Lord Bea- 
consfield. At the same time, the favourable condition 
of trade and agriculture, which had lasted almost 
without intermission from the repeal of the Corn 
Laws to the resignation of Mr. Gladstone, rapidly 
declined from that date ; and an unparalleled series of 
bad seasons and miserable harvests, combined with an 
ever-growipig foreign competition, helped to generate 
wide-spread distress among the agricultural classes, with 
its natural concomitants of discontent, irritability, and 
a blind belief that any change must be for the better. 
But three very favourable elections occurring about 
the same time at Sheffield, Liverpool, and Soutli- 
wark, shed a delusive ray of popularity over the 
Conservative Government, and persuaded Lord Bea- 
consfield's colleagues that now or never was the time to 
appeal to the people. Just before the dissolution he 
addressed a letter to the Duke of Marlborough, the 
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, dwelling on the dangerous 
condition of that country, which was much censured at 
the time, but the truth of which was speedily acknow- 
ledged. However, the people were bent upon a change. 



154 LIFE OF LORD BEAC0N8FIELD. 

The Conservative Party lost one hundred and eleven seats. 
And Lord Beaconsfield, who had never been sanguine 
of the result, retired once more to his old position with- 
out any external signs of chagrin or disappointment. 

He was now in his seventy-sixth year, and time and toil 
and trouble bad done their work upon him. But the 
dignity with which he bore his change of fortune, and 
the wise and moderate counsels by wMiich, for the 
brief period still left to him, he regulated the counsels 
of his party, were the theme of general remark. To 
distract his own attention, as much perhaps as for any 
other purpose, he went back to literature, and as he 
had solaced himself after the great reverse of 1868 
with the composition of Lolhair, so did he now with 
the composition oi Endymion, which was published in 
November 1880, and of which what I have to say will be 
found in a subsequent chapter. But at the opening of 
Parliament in January 1881 he appeared in his place, 
apparently in his usual health, and spoke both on the 
Address (January 6th), and on Lord Lytton's policy in 
India as effectively as ever. This, however, was his 
last great speech in Parliament, and it is interesting to 
know that his last words were uttered in defence of the 
great Empire, and the great principles of government, 
of which he had all his life been the faithful soldier 
and servant. 

I saw him for the last time at a London party one 
evening in March, and he then seemed to be quite as 
strong and well as a man of his age could be ex- 
pected to be. But on the 23rd it became known 
that he was suffering from an attack of bronchitis, and 
as the symptoms grew more serious, the sympathy and 
anxiety of the public became general and profound. 
Of the four weeks that followed, during which Lord 



DISBAELI AS LEADER OF THE PARTY, 155 

Beaconsfield's condition was in every heart and on 
every tongue, a detailed account is to be found in the 
newspapers of the period, and need not be repeated 
here. His illness fluctuated with the changes of the 
weather, which was generally, however, unfavourable 
to his complaint, and the complication of gout and 
bronchitis made the treatment of it proportionably 
difBcult. Ail day long his door in Curzon Street was 
besieged by a succession of visitors eager to see the 
latest medical report, or to testify their respect and 
affection for the illustrious patient. The Queen and the 
Prince of Wales were constant in their inquiries, and 
groups of working men assembled every morning in 
Curzon Street, deeply interested in the life of one 
whom they recognised not less as the benefactor of 
their own order than as the vindicator of their country's 
honour. 

During the progress of his illness Lord Beaconsfield 
retained his cheerfulness, and conversed occasionally 
upon public affairs with his usual spirit. The only 
friends, however, who were admitted to his bedside were 
Lord Rowton, Lord Barrington, and Sir Philip Rose, 
who were sometimes surprised at the apparent strength 
and vivacity which he exhibited. Towards the end 
of the second week in April the weather grew com- 
paratively mild, and hopes were entertained that the 
strength of Lord Beaconsfield's constitution might still 
enable him to rally. On the 17th, however, the wind 
turned to the north-east, and the cold once more became 
severe. On the 18th, Easter Sunday, the effect of it on 
the patient was very visible, and towards night became 
alarming. About midnight he sank into a stupor, and 
at half-past four on the morning of Tuesday the 19th 
he died, his right hand in the clasp of his dear 



156 LIFE OF LORD BFACONSFIELD. 

friends Lord Barriiigton and Lord Eowton, and his left 
in that of Dr. Kidd. 

So passed away one of those extraordinary characters 
who appear only at intervals of centuries. No such 
public grief has been witnessed in England since the 
the death of Mr. Pitt, and even that was confined to a 
narrower circle, and chiefly to the people of Great Bri- 
tain. But the death of Lord Beaconsfield affected all 
classes and all countries. The peasant and the artizan, 
the middle classes, the aristocracy, and the Court were 
stirred by a common sorrow, while some of the most 
touching tributes to Lord Beaconsfield's character and 
genius, and most accurate estimates of the great loss 
which England had sustained, are to be found in the 
columns of Oontinenal journals^ the conductors of 
which well knew that it was not England alone on whom 
the blow had fallen. 

Lord Beaconsfield was buried on Monday the 28th of 
April in the vault of Hughenden Church, by the side 
of Lady Beaconsfield, and not far from one who had 
left her fortune to the great statesman whom she vene- 
rated, on the romantic condition that in death at least 
they should not be divided. The day will long be re- 
membered by Hughenden, by Buckinghamshire, and by 
England. The Prince of Wales, the Duke of Con- 
naught, and Prince Leopold saw his cofi&n lowered into 
the grave ; and the surrounding circle included the 
Marquis of Salisbury, the Marquis of Exeter, Count 
Munster, Sir Stafford Northcote, Lord John Manners, 
Lord Beauchamp, Lord Lytton, Sir Frederick Leighton, 
Lord Henry Lennox, Mr. Cecil Piaikes, Lord Laming- 
ton — " peers of every degree, the representatives of the 
greatest sovereigns of the world, and men whose names 
are part of the history of England." Lord Eowton 



DISRAELI AS LEADER OF THE PARTY, 157 

and Lord Barrington stood on the right hand of the 
clergyman, and next to them Mr. Kalph Disraeli with 
his son Coningsby Disraeli, then a boy of twelve years 
old, and the future owner of Hughenden. But not the 
least interesting feature of this interesting and melan- 
choly day was the assembly gathered together on the 
road outside the church, consistirifg of the statesman's 
humbler friends and neighbours in his Buckinghamshire 
home, farmers and labourers and tradesmen, women and 
children, ail, if not in black, at least with some token 
of mourning displayed upon their persons. It may 
be said that till the day of his death England hardly 
knew how much she had loved the deceased states- 
man, and that she might almost have exclaimed, with 
the child mourning for his brother, that while he was 
still spared to her she could have wished that she had 
loved him more. 

On the 30th of April Her Majesty and the Princess 
Beatrice paid a visit to Hughenden, when the Queen, 
having descended into the vault, and placed another 
wreath of white camelias on Lord Beaconsfield's coffin, 
took a last farewell of the loyal and trusted Minister, 
who, whatever his faults and errors, had always been 
true to herself, and to all that he believed most condu- 
cive to the glory of the English monarchy. 

Lord Beaconsfield was very fond of flowers, and of 
them his favourite was the primrose. After his death 
it became the emblem of the principles which he repre- 
sented, and the badge of all those who wished to be 
considered his disciples. A Primrose League was esta- 
blished for the propagation of " that new creed which is 
the old," the Toryism which he had cleared of its ex- 
crescences, and restored to its pristine popularity ; and 
Primrose Clubs sprang up in abundance with the same 



158 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 

object in view. The day of his death is still observed 
as Primrose Bay^ and it has now long been evident 
that the love and admiration with which he had 
inspired the English people was no fickle or evanescent 
passion excited by a showy and meretricious policy, and 
ending with the phenomena that produced it, but a 
deep and lasting sentiment, founded on a lirm belief in 
the greatness of his character, the power of his intel- 
lect, and the important services which he had rendered 
to the Constitution and the Empire. 

In both Houses of Parliament graceful and eloquent 
tributes to his memory were paid by the Leaders of 
both parties. Lord Granville said, *' My Lords, it is 
impossible for anyone to deny that Lord Beaconsfield 
played a great part in English history. No one can 
deny his rare and splendid gifts, and how continuous 
have been his services with regard to the Crown and 
Parliament." The Marquis of Salisbury said : — 

That his friends and colleagues should mourn his loss and revere 
his memory is only too natural. I have not the same title to speak on 
this subject as many of those beside me, because my close political 
connection with him. was comparatively recent. But it lasted through 
anxious and diflBcult times, when the character of men may be plainly 
seen by those who work with them. And to me, as I believe to all 
others who have worked with him, his patience, his gentleness, his 
unswerving and unselfish loyalty to his colleagues and fellow- 
labourers, have made an impression which will never leave me so long 
as life endures. But these feelings could only affect a limited circle 
of his immediate adherents. The impression which his career and 
character have made on the vast mass of his countrymen must be 
sought elsewhere. To a great extent, no doubt, it is due to the pecu- 
liar character of his genius, to its varied nature, to the wonderful 
combination of qualities he possessed, and which rarely reside in the 
same brain. To some extent, also, there is no doubt that the circum- 
stances to which the noble Earl has so eloquently alluded — that is, the 
social difficvxlties which opposed themselves to his ea,r\j rise, and the 
splendid perseverance by which they were overcome — impressed his 
countrymen, who love to see exemplified that career open to all 



DISRAELI AS LEADER OF THE PARTY. 159 

persons, -wliateTer their initial difficulties may be, which is \ne of the 
characteristics of the institutions of which they are most prond. 

Zeal for the greatness of England was the passion of his mind. 
Opinions might, and did, differ deeply as to the measures and steps 
by which expression was given to the dominant feelings, and more 
and more, as life drew near its close, as the heat and turmoil of con- 
troversy were left behind, as the gratification of every possible ambi- 
tion negatived the suggestion of any inferior motives, and brought out 
into greater prominence the purity and strength of this one intense 
feeling, the people of this country recognised the force with which 
this desire dominated his actions. 

In the questions of interior policy which divided classes he had to 
consider them, he had to judge them, and to take his course accord- 
ingly. It seemed tome that he treated them always as of secondary 
interest, compared to this one great question — how the country to 
which he belonged might be made united and strong. 

Mr. Gladstone said : — 

The career of Lord Beaconsfield is, in many respects, the most 
remarkable one in Parliamentary history. For my own part, I know 
but one that can fairly be compared to it in regard to the emotion of 
surprise, and when viewed as a whole, an emotion, I might almost 
say, of wonder ; and that is the career, and especially the earlier career, 
of Mr. Pitt. 

There were certain great qualities of the deceased statesmen on 
which I think it right to touch. His extraordinary intellectual 
powers are as well understood by others as by me, and they are not 
proper subjects for our pi'esent commendation. But there were other 
great qualities — qualities not merely intellectual, in the sense of being 
dissociated from conduct, but qualities immediately connected with 
conduct, with regard to which I should say, were I a younger man, 
that I should like to stamp the recollection of them on myself for my 
own future guidance, and Avith regard to which I will confidentlj'" say 
to those who are younger than myself, that I would strongly recom- 
mend them for notice and imitation. They were qxaalities not only 
written in a marked manner on his career, but possessed by him in a 
degree undoubtedly extraordinary. I speak, for example, of such as 
these — his strength of will, his long-sighted persistency of purpose, 
reaching from the first entrance on the avenue of life to its very close 
his remarkable powers of self-government ; and last, but not least, of 
all. his great parliamentary coura^^e, a quality in which I, who have 
been associated in the course of my life with some scores of ministers 
have never known but two who could be pronounced his equal. 



160 LIFE OF LOBB BEAC0NSFIF!LD, 

These two were possibly Lord John Kussell and the 
late Lord Derby. With this record of opinion from 
his great antagonist, the narrative of Lord Beacons- 
field's public life may be appropriately closed. It 
remains to speak of his general position as a statesman, 
an orator, and a man of letters. 



161 



CHAPTER VII. 

STATESMAN AND OKATOR. 

Estimates of Lord Beaconsfield's statesmanship — His foreign policy — 
His domestic policy — Theory of popular government — One 
opinion of the duties of Conservatism — Lord Beaconsfield's 
opinion — Changes in his views — Distrust of the middle class — 
Our territorial constitution — The Irish question — Lord Beacons- 
field's ecclesiastical viev?s — The monarchichal revival — Idealism 
of Lord Beaconsfield — Increased power of the minister — Lord 
Beaconsfield's position as an orator — Specimens of his eloquence 
— His use of rhetoric — His vein of irony — Famous sarcasms. 

Of Lord Beaconsfield's statesmanship various estimates 
have been formed. That he was one of the greatest 
Party Leaders which our system of government has 
produced will be generally admitted. But a man may 
be a great Party Leader witliout being a great states- 
man; and to determine whether his claims to this higher 
dignity are v/ell founded or not, we must consider how 
far he comprehends the character of his own age, 
whether in his dealings with the contingencies and 
emergencies which it thrusts upon him he displays the 
qualities of foresight, sagacity, and the power of taking 
broad views of political affairs, or whether, so to speak, 
he only lives from hand to mouth, and is satisfied 

11 



162 LIFE OF LORD BFACONSFIELD, 

with so adjusting public questions as to suit the tem- 
porary exigencies or prejudices of his own party without 
looking farther ahead. Lord Beaconsfield has been 
accused of doing this ; of sacrificing Conservative prin- 
ciples for the sake of place and power, and of inflicting 
deep wounds on the Constitution for selfish and am- 
bitious objects. It may be permitted us on the present 
occasion to examine the validity of this charge with 
some little attention, since it is doubtful even now 
whether the delusion in which it had its origin has 
ever been properly exposed. 

Of Lord Beaconsfield's statesmanship in the depart- 
ment of Foreign Afftiirs, it is sufiBcient to say that he 
followed the traditional policy of Chatham, Pitt, Gren- 
ville, Canning, and Palmerston, as distinguished from 
those theories on the subject which a later school of 
Radical politicians have more recently introduced. 
That England, though a small island, is the head of 
a vast empire, which through its commerce and its 
colonies is connected by a thousand links with the 
European system, as firmly and as closely as if it had 
been conterminous with France^ Germany, or Russia ; 
consequently that our interests are more or less affected 
by every continental complication, and that alliances 
and interventions are as much a .necessity to ourselves 
as to any of the great military Powers; that a policy 
of isolation is in principle like a policy of disarma- 
ment, founded on the belief that it is better to run the 
risk of ruin than to pay the cost of insurance — such 
are the few cardinal maxims which have ruled the 
foreign policy of all our greatest modern statesmen. 
They lie upon the surface, and require neither defence 
nor explanation. But that is not the case with the 
domestic policy of Lord Beaconsfield, which was based 



STATESMAN AND OBATOB. 163 

on considerations not, indeed, very abstruse or recondite, 
but requiring, nevertheless, a little more thought than 
the Tadpoles and Tapers of the day are generally 
willing to bestow on them. 

In the course of the debates on the Reform Bill of 
1867, Lord Beaconsfield pointed out that the objections 
brought against his measure were fatal in reality to all 
popular government, since all popular government in- 
volved the periodical extension of political privileges. 
These might, of course, be abused, and made subservient 
to revolutionary agitators. But that could not be 
helped. Nobody will maintain at the present day that 
it would have been possible for any Government, after 
1832, to continue to hold power on the avowed principle 
of resisting all popular innovations. Even the Con- 
servatives of 1867 would hardly have said that. What 
they did say was this, that it was not for the Conservative 
Party to undertake such changes, without apparently 
perceiving that such a doctrine was tantamount to con- 
demning the Conservative Party to perpetual exclusion 
from office, on any honourable or independent terms. 
If they come into power on such an understanding, they 
can only retain it till their opponents have determined 
■what is the next great change that can most ad- 
vantageously be announced, and what the most popular 
cry to raise throughout the country. A session is enough 
for this, and in the meantime a Conservative Govern- 
ment must necessarily be a Government upon sufferance, 
and therefore an object of contempt. Lord Beaconsfield 
knew what it was to hold oifice on sufferance, and the 
iron had entered into his soul. 

There were not wanting Conservatives in 1867 who 
were willing to face this position and accept the logical 
result. Let the Conservative Party they said, be hence- 

11 * 



164 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIFLD. 

forth recognised as the CoDstitutional Opposition, whose 
business it is to temper, modify, and restrain the Radical 
tendencies of Liberalism, but never to assume the 
Government. If popular progress is the order of the 
day, the proper regime is a Libera] Government to intro- 
duce organic changes, and a Conservative Opposition to 
prevent them from going too far. Thus each party 
will be in its right place, and both perhaps equally 
useful. The Conservative Party will occupy an in- 
telligible and honourable position, and always be able 
to act up to its original principles. Unfortunately, 
however, this theory of Parliamentary Government, if 
carried a step farther will be found to destroy itself. An 
Opposition, to discharge the functions here assigned to 
it, must be powerful, and an Opposition to be power- 
ful must be formidable. But an Opposition which 
abjured office would have no terrors for any Ministry. 
It could only fire blank cartridges, and, make as 
much noise as it would, nobody would be really hurt. 
In other words, an Opposition which acted on this 
principle would cease to be an Opposition at all in the 
Parliamentary sense of the term, and could exercise little 
or no control over the policy of the Government. What 
becomes, then, of its pretensions to keep in check 
Radical proclivities ? 

But this is not all. Such an Opposition as this, while 
it would have no weight with the Ministry, would have 
no attractions for the public. Clever young men would 
cease to throw in their lot with a party which made a 
virtue of renouncing all the prizes of public life. The 
leaders of the Bar who look to a Parliamentary career as 
the surest road to professional advtiucement, would no 
longer be found on the Opposition benches, and the 
party would be robbed of a tributary which is now one 



STATESMAN AND ORATOR. 165 

of its chief elements of strength. Ceasing to be con- 
tinually reinforced by the best brains in the country, 
and the fresh energies of the rising generation, the 
Opposition, would dwindle to a shadow, and become 
totally incapable of exercising that conservative influence 
for the sake of which alone it had adopted this self-deny- 
ing ordinance. For the Conservative Party to fulfil its 
mission, it must retain the power of attracting into its 
ranks the young, able, and ambitious men of each suc- 
ceeding generation, and of holding over the ministers of 
the day the constant possibility of a change. To do 
this they must be in a position not only to take office, 
but to keep it. And to place themselves in this position 
they must be ready to move with the times, and show 
themselves capable of satisfying the wants of the nation. 
Lord Beaconsfield saw that this rule of action, so far 
from being a sacrifice of Conservative principles, was 
really the only way of giving effect to them. Changes 
which cannot be prevented may be rendered less destruc- 
tive in Conservative hands than they would be in 
Radical hands; and Conservatives are acting just as 
honourable and dignified a part in adopting a policy 
of which they disapprove in the abstract, that they may 
render it less mischievous in the concrete, as they would 
be in resisting it altogether when their resistance is 
certain to be useless. This was the conviction on 
which Lord Beaconsfield acted ; and it was surely a 
statesman-like conviction. He knew that we lived in 
revolutionary times, and he saw that the only way in 
such times of securing any share of influence to Con- 
servative ideas was that which I have described. With 
many Conservative Members of Parliament it is simply 
enough that they dislike a thing, that it seems to them 
intrinsically undesirable, to make them think it must be 



166 LIFE OF LOBD BEACONSFIFLD. 

doggedly resisted without looking to the riglit or to the 
left. They do not consider that, in an age like the pre- 
sent, politics, from the Conservative point of view, are 
often but a choice of evils. They did not see this in times 
past, even if they see it now. But Lord Beaconsfield 
saw it, and proved his statesmanship by acting on it. 

It ought to be unnecessary at the present day to 
argue such a point as this. Parties are always in a 
state of change. It is the law of their nature. Whigs and 
Tories, Conservatives and Radicals are always, to borrow 
a metaphor from Mr. Gladstone, going through the pro- 
cess analogous to that which is constantly taking place 
in our bodily system. To recognise the truth where 
others fail to see it, and to act upon it when all around 
us are resisting it, is one test of statesmanship, as well as 
of political philosophy, from which Lord Beaconsfield 
certainly need not shrink. What his Conservative critics 
would have had him do was a practical impossibility. 

In his conception of the English Constitution, and 
of the relations of parties to each other, Lord Beacons- 
field shifted his standpoint, as he gained more practical 
experience. In the Life of Lord George Bentinck^ he 
describes the Whigs as the leaders of the English aris- 
tocracy. When he wrote these words he must have 
meant by the aristocracy the nobility, and have been 
comparing them with the Tory country gentlemen who 
did undoubtedly at one time represent popular feeling 
more accurately than the Whigs. He loved to dwell 
on the popular character and functions of *' the 
knightly order '' and the great part which it had played 
in history. He himself has told us that between 
1783 and 1815 the positions of English parties were 
reversed. But he seems for a long time to have dwelt 
on the possibility of their returning to their original 



STATESMAN AND ORATOR. 167 

positions, and though it is clear that by the year 1873, 
when he made the speech which is quoted at page 57, 
he was alive to the fact that both classes of the aris- 
tocracy were in the same boat at last, and that the 
nobility and country gentlemen had no longer any sepa- 
rate interests, but must stand or fall together. 

The fact is that Lord Beaconsfield in his library, 
giving the rein to his imagination, and tracing all 
kinds of analogies between the past and present state 
of politics, and Lord Beaconsfield in the House of 
Commons, dealing with actual circumstances and edu- 
cating his party upon questions calling for imme- 
diate settlement, were two distinct men, leading two 
lives almost as different from each other as were the two 
lives led, according to Lockhart, by Sir Walter Scott. 
In the one he was a Wyndham, a Shippen or a Brom- 
ley fighting for the Church, the landed interest, and 
the poor, against the Whigs, the Dissenters, the moneyed 
interest, and the mob, deploring the degradation of the 
Crown and the predominance of a crafty oligarchy. In 
the other he was the keen and ready-witted leader of 
the modern Tory Party, including in its ranks the 
greater part of that very oligarchy, which history taught 
him to be the natural enemy of Toryism, engaged in 
the defence of principles never called in question by our 
ancestors, and responding to watchwords which, to 
them, would have been wholly unintelligible. 

In the one capacity he was as speculative as Hobbes 
or Harrington ; in the other, as practical as the Con- 
servative attorneys who *' nibbed their pens and whis- 
pered there was nothing like reaction."" He lived these 
two lives separately and alternately till his last hour; 
but, unlike what might have been expected, they rarely 
interfered with each other. For the popular Toryism 



168 LIFE OF LOBD BFACONSFIELB, 

with which he is associated was founded on an acute 
perception of the character of his own times, and of the 
only means by which Conservatism could become a real 
power in the country. 

In one respect, and in one only, does he seem to have 
been always the same, and that was in his distrust of 
the middle classes as an element of political stability. 
In his speech on the Chartist petition in 1839 he gave 
utterance to this sentiment. It is to be found again in 
a very remarkable speech which he delivered on the 20th 
of February 1846, and every page of Coningshy and 
^yhil is rife with it. He believed that permanent and 
powerful governments might be founded on either 
monarchy, oligarchy, or democracy. But he had no 
faith in a hourgeoise constitution. 

In his views regarding the peasantry and the arti- 
sans, the commercial capitalists, and the rural aristo- 
cracy, we may trace the influence of Cobbett, Cobbett 
believed in our ** territorial constitution " as much as 
Lord Beaconsfield, but he wished to see it rescued from 
the predominance of dukes, marquises, and nabobs, with 
their overgrown estates, and sighed for the days when 
the halls and manor houses, inhabited by country gentle- 
men of ancient birth and moderate estate, had not yet 
been bought up by the Tritons and turned into farm- 
houses. Mr. Disraeli was obliged to handle this part of 
the question somewhat delicately. But what he thought 
upon the subject is plainly discernible in Sybil, where 
the very words of Cobbett are occasionally to be dis- 
covered. 

While, however, we may entirely agree with Lord 
Beaconsfield in his estimate of our territorial constitu- 
tion, a conjecture may be hazarded that if, on any 
point, his statesmanship was the dupe of his imagination, 



STATESMAN AND OBATOB. 169 

it was on this. Tn the speech on the threshold of the 
great Corn Law struggles of 1846, he said : — 

I have now nearly concluded the observations which I shall address 
to the House. I have omitted a great deal which I wished to urge 
upon the House, and I sincerely wish that what I have said had been 
urged with more ability, but I have endeavoured not to make a mere 
Corn Law speech. I have only taken corn as an illustration ; but I 
don't like my friends here to enter upon that Corn Law debate, which 
I suppose is impending, under a mistaken notion of the position in 
which they stand. I never did rest my defence of the Corn Laws on 
the burdens to which land is subject. I believe that there are burdens, 
heavy burdens, on the land ; but the land has great honours, and he 
who has great honours must have great burdens. But I wish them to 
bear in mind that their cause must be sustained by great jDrinciples. 
I venture feebly and slightly to indicate those principles, principles of 
high policy, on which their system ought to be sustained. First, 
without reference to England, looking at all countries, I say that it is 
the first duty of the Minister, and the first interest of the State, to 
maintain a balance between the two great branches of national indus- 
try. I repeat what I have said before, that in this country there are 
special reasons why we should give a preponderance — I do not say a 
predominance — why we should give a jDreponderance, for that is the 
proper and constitutional word, to the agricultural branch ; and the 
reason is, because in England we have a territorial constitution. We 
have thrown upon the land the revenues of the Church, the admini- 
stration of justice, and the estate of the poor ; and this has been done, 
not to gratify the pride or pamper the luxury of the proprietors of the 
land, but because in a territorial constitution you, and those whom 
you have succeeded, have found the only security for self-government, 
the only barrier against that centralising system which has taken 
root in other counti'ies. I have always maintained these opinions 
My constituents are not landlords; they are not aristocrats; they are 
not great capitalists they are the children of industry and toil ; and 
they believe, first, that their material intei'ests are involved in a 
system which favours native industry by insuring at the same time 
real competition ; but they believe also that their social and political 
interests are involved in a system by which their rights and liberties 
have been guaranteed ; and I agree with them — I have the same old- 
fashioned notions. 

At page 30 of this little volume will be found a mucli 
earlier speech, giving expression to the same opinions 
in more rhetorical and glowing colours. But at all 



170 LIFE OF LOUD BEAGONSFIELD. 

periods of his life he was fond of reverting to them, 
and of speaking of the country gentlemen of England 
as the natural leaders of the people : and I cannot 
help thinking that he must have sometimes shut his 
eyes to the eififect of recent changes in our political 
and social system, which have certainly weakened, 
though they may not have finally destroyed, the foun- 
dations of the ancient regime. Our territorial con- 
stitution grew up at a time when all property and all 
powers were territorial, and though of all the forms in 
which property and power can be embodied, this is pro- 
bably on the whole the most beneficial to society, yet 
with the development of trade and commerce, rival in- 
terests and rival aspirations are certain to spring up, jea- 
lous of the privileges attaching to the ownership of land, 
and severely critical on the working of ^' a territorial 
constitution." In England this last has long been de- 
clining in importance. Public offices and public duties 
once inseparably connected with landed property, have 
now been severed from it. The House of Commons is 
no longer led by members of the territorial class, and 
though forty years ago it still presented, as it does still, 
an imposing exterior, the shock given to feudal ideas by 
the French Eevolution, the reduction of aristocratic in- 
fluence by the Reform Bill of 1832, and the enormous 
concurrent development of the manufacturing interests, 
have all been working for the degradation of that great 
system, the merits of which Lord Beaconsfield did not 
over-estimate, and which has found one of its warmest 
eulogists in Mr. Gladstone himself.* 

It is open to doubt whether Lord Beaconsfield fully 
understood this. He was loth to part with the belief 
that the country gentlemen of England represented *'the 

* Cf. p. 65. 



STATESMAN AND OEATOU. 171 

popular political confederacy " of this country, and still 
retained their ancient place in the hearts of the labour- 
ing classes. He knew that evil tongues had come between 
them, but it is uncertain if he appreciated the full ex- 
tent of the mischief; and perhaps we ought to hope 
that he died in the faith in which he lived, namely, that 
the extension of popular privileges could never be inju- 
rious to those who deserved well of the people. We 
have not seen the end yet, and Lord Beaconsfield may 
have been quite right. His prescience was rarely at 
fault. He stood alone in his belief in the Conservative 
working man. His belief in a Conservative peasantry 
may prove equally well founded. But the circumstances 
are not analogous, and one need not be an alarmist to 
think that on this point he may possibly have been 
over sanguine. 

But though he may have miscalculated the force of 
those hostile agencies which the nineteenth century has 
developed, it does not follow that his admiration of '* the 
territorial constitution " was not well worthy of a states- 
man. Lord Beaconsfield believed that the persons most 
proper to be entrusted with the exercise of local autho- 
rity and local administration should naturally be looked 
for in the more conservative elements of society, which 
have been supposed since the days of Aristotle to 
reside in the proprietors of the soil. He thought that 
the administration of justice and the interests of the 
poor were alike benefited by being confided to the 
hands of men who had hereditary claims on the respect 
and affection of the people. Such a system, it is said, 
lightens the pressure of authority by the influence of 
immemorial prescription, and dignifies the receipt of 
charity by imparting to it some flavour of the kindness 
which springs from a family relationship. 



172 LIFE OF LORD BEACON SFIFLJD, 

Finally, without underrating the patriotism and self- 
devotion of the manufacturing and commercial classes, 
which they have proved on many memorable occasions, 
Lord Beaconsfield was of opinion that the possession of 
land intensified the love of country, and invested it 
with a concrete form which commerce alone could not 
supply. He thought that in times of trouble more 
fortitude, resolution, and patience were to be expected 
from a territorial than from a commercial aristocracy; 
and it was the avowed intention of the Anti-Corn 
Law Leaders to substitute the one for the other in 
this country, which more than anything else made 
Lord Beaconsfield a Protectionist. These views may 
be unfashionable. They may be mistaken. But they 
have a recognised locus standi in political philosophy, 
and well become an English statesman. 

On what is now the great question of the day Lord 
Beaconsfield's opinions varied with the course of events ; 
but there is no doubt that had the settlement of the Irish 
Question lain with himself from forty to fifty years ago he 
would have arranged it on broad and equitable principles, 
which would have saved us all our present difficulties. 
Let us never forget his memorable words spoken in 1843 : 
** An alien Church, an absentee aristocracy, and a 
starving people — that is the Irish Question." To estab- 
lish the Church of the people in Ireland, as we have 
established the Church of the people in Scotland, was 
his remedy for the first grievance which lay at the 
root of the evil. How he would have dealt with the 
second it is impossible to say. But it is clear enough 
that a resident Irish aristocracy, such as the wealthy 
landed proprietors who lived almost entirely in England, 
would have gone a long way towards improving the con- 
dition of Irish agriculture, so as to make starvation, at 



STATESMAN AND OBATOB. 173 

all events, impossible. But when the Irish Question was 
at length taken up by Mr. Gladstone it was too late. 
The Fenian agitation had begun. And although, in 
Mr. Disraeli's opinion, it was very nearly stamped out 
when Mr. Gladstone blew up the embers, it practically 
made it impossible for English statesmen to recur to 
any such remedies as might have been effective at an 
earlier period. Mr. Disraeli then said. Leave Ireland 
alone. Between 1848 and 1865 she had been ad- 
vancing steadily along the path of social progress. The 
Fenian movement was essentially a foreign one, fanned 
by bad management into something much more for- 
midable, but capable at one time of being crushed 
without any difficulty. Natural causes had removed 
some of Ireland's difficulties. Time, patience, and 
perseverance would have done the rest. Mr. Glad- 
stone's Irish measures of 1(S69 and 1870 seemed to 
Lord Beaconsfield not to be the cure of an old agita- 
tion so much as the creation of a new one. 

It was on ecclesiastical subjects that Lord Beaconsfield 
was seen to least advantage. Of the recent history of the 
Church of England, and of the true nature of the ques- 
tions which separate her from Rome and from Geneva, 
his knowledge was imperfect ; and his ideas, in con- 
sequence, unlike those which he had formed on politics 
and society, were not original. He took them from 
those whom he believed to be well informed upon the 
subject, and was sometimes deceived by appearances, 
sometimes converted by clamour, and sometimes made 
the tool of party. Yet all the time it is difficult to 
doubt on which side lay his real sympathies. The 
natural bent of his mind was to see in the Catholic 
Church only a continuation of the Jewish, and to re- 
cognise in her rites and ceremonies the legitimate fultil- 



174 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 

ment of those which God had ordained in the Old 
Testament. He tells us that the Romish Church 
possesses "the old learning as well as the new." When 
he refers to the Papacy it is not to condemn the Pope, 
but to suggest that the visible head of the Church 
should have been seated, not at Rome, but at Jeru- 
salem. Both on the Monarchy and the Church of Eng- 
land the sentiments which he puts into the mouths of 
Coningsby and Henry Sidney are those of Hurrell 
Froude. 

I believe that these, his earliest expressed opinions, 
were the most congenial to his mind, as they were cer- 
tainly most in harmony with the political creed, the pri- 
mitive Toryism, which he had adopted. But they were 
not founded on independent study ; they were not 
built upon a rock, and were liable to be shaken by any 
gust of popular passion which assailed them. No one 
would ever have thought it likely that the author of 
S/jbii could support a Bill " to put down Ritualism " ; 
and we know that Mr. Disraeli's first impulse was to 
oppose it. But he yielded to representations with 
which his own information did not enable him to cope, 
and made one of the greatest mistakes of his life in 
consequence. 

Again, when he said with reference to Essat/s atid 
Reviews that he, too, was for free enquiry, but that it 
must be by free enquirers, he was not en rapport 
with the general tone and temper of the better 
class of English clergy. Notwithstanding the truth 
which the words undoubtedly contain, they jarred 
on the ears of many men who were as orthodox as 
Lord Eldon and as firm believers in the literal inspi- 
ration of the Bible as Luther. The fact is, the one 
thing which he did not thoroughly understand in Eng- 



STATESMAN AND OBATOU, 175 

land was the Church. And the clergy, on the othtr 
hand, did not understand him. This, unfortunately, 
was the source of woes unnumbered to the Conserva- 
tive Party, for which a large share of the responsi- 
bility must undoubtedly rest with Lord Beaconsfield. 
He allowed, himself to fall into the hands of a party 
with whom at the outset of his career he had no sym- 
pathy whatever. But had he been told that the Public 
Worship Regulation Bill was not in accordance with 
the principles which *' the descendants of the cavaliers" 
might be expected to espouse,"^ he would have replied, 
perhaps, that since he last appealed to those principles 
" many things had happened,^' and that it was useless 
to galvanize a corpse. 

Lord Beaconsfield, while Prime Minister, between 
1874 and 1880, was frequently accused of attempting 
'*to revive personal government." The charge was 
absurd enough, but it was eagerly taken up in certain 
quarters, and men said it was only what was to be ex- 
pected from the author of Coningsbi/. Now what the 
author of ConiiKjshy had glanced at merely as one mode 
of escape from the difficulties created by the Reform 
Bill — difficulties summed up in the Duke^s well -known 
question. How is the King's Government to be car- 
ried on ? — was undoubtedly something more than the 
revival of those monarchical functions which, since the 
death of William the Third had, with the exception ol 
one brief interval, been practically in abeyance. It 
was nothing less than the termination of Parliamentary 
supremacy altogether in favour of a genuine mo- 
narchy, controlled by journalism, and assisted in the 
work of administration by ** a vast pile of municipal 
and local government.'^ 

* See Speech in House of Commons, Aug. 9, 1843. 



176 LIFE OF LORD BFAC0N8MFLB. 

* 

This, we must remember, is a mere speculation, not 
meant for a moment as a really practical suggestion. 

Representation is not necessarily, or even in a principal sense, Par- 
liamentary. Parliament is not sitting at this moment, and yet the 
nation is represented in its highest as well as in its most minute 
interests. Not a grievance escapes notice and redress. We must not for- 
get that a principle of government is reserved for our days that we shall 
not find in our Aristotles, or even in the forests of Tacitus, nor in our 
Saxon Wittenagemotes, nor in our Plantagenet parliaments. Opinion 
now is supreme, and Opinion speaks in print. The representation of 
the Press is far more complete than the representation of Parliament, 
Parliamentary representation was the happy device of a ruder age, to 
which it v\ras admirably adapted ; an age of semi-civilization, when 
there was a leading class in the community ; but it exhibits many 
symptoms of desuetude. It is controlled by a system of representa- 
tion more vigorous and comprehensive ; which absorbs its duties and 
fulfils them more efficiently, and in which discussion is pursued on 
fairer terms, and often with more depth and information. 

He did not think that the settlement of 1832 was 
likely to be permanent, and if we were *' forced to revo- 
lution,'' he preferred a monarchical to a democratic 
revolution. But he was never wild enough to imagine 
that personal government could co-exist with a reformed 
House of Commons, and before 1874 the question raised 
in Coningshy had been answered in another way. 

If the charge formally brought against him in 1879 
was not absolutely meaningless, it implied that Lord 
Beaconsfield was suggesting to Her Majesty that she 
should act upon her own views of foreign and domestic 
policy without regard to the opinion of Parliament. 
Unless it meant as much as this, it meant nothing at 
all. But personal government of this kind, either by 
the Sovereign or the Minister, as Parliament is at 
present constituted, is simply impossible, unless the 
Sovereign is prepared to try conclusions with the ma- 
jority, and establish a system under which the defeat 



STATESMAN AND OEATOB. 177 

of the Government shall not involve its resignation. 
If Lord Beaconsfield had any such scheme as this in 
contemplation, it is odd that no trace of it should 
exist in the history of one who was three times leader of 
the House of Commons at the head of a minority, and 
once Prime Minister. That a minister in a minority 
has a right of appealing to the people hefore he resigns 
office, is of course a truism, and Mr. Disraeli held 
office in 1852, in 1859, and in 1867 on that under- 
standing. In 1868 and 1880 he resigned before the 
elections were over. But this is not the point at issue. 
The only Prime Minister who has ever seriously tried 
to conduct the Government of this country in the face 
of a hostile majority after, and not before, the appeal 
to the people has been made, was not Lord Beaconsfield, 
but Sir Kobert Peel. 

That Lord Beaconsfield was in some respects the 
slave of his own fancies may perhaps be granted; and 
he may have believed he saw materials for a monar- 
chical revival where none existed. But that he had any 
formed design as late as 1874 for attempting to carry 
it out, is to my mind a ridiculous supposition. That 
the mere charge should have been made, however, un- 
doubtedly points to what was his chief defect as a 
statesman. He was too much under the dominion of 
ideas, and allowed too little for the force of circum- 
stances, which he strove vainly to reconcile with his 
theories. The Times once referred to the difficulty of 
reconciling Lord Beaconsfield's language with the 
world in which we live; and the explanation is what I 
have already given, namely, that he lived in two 
worlds, and that he sometimes allowed himself,, in 
talking to the denizens of one, to use the language\of 
the other. We see the influence of this tendency tp 

12 



178 LIFE OF LORD BEAC0N8FIELD. 

idealism in the tenacity with which he clung to his 
belief in the stability of our old rural system, after its 
foundations had been so severely shaken by the 
severance of old ties, by prolonged agricultural dis- 
tress, and by the indefatigable efforts of a sordid social 
democracy to sow dissension in its ranks. We see it 
in his failure, with all his marvellous foresight and 
insight, to comprehend the moral change which had 
come over the English people during half a century of 
democratic education, with its pseudo-philanthropy, its 
maudlin sensibility, and its Pharisaical hypocrisy. He 
knew what the English people once were, and he would 
not believe it possible that they should suddenly behave 
like women ^.ad children. He forgot that democracies 
are very likc^ women in their nature ; generous, but im- 
pulsive, passionate, and intolerant, easily stirred by 
emotion, but seldom accessible to argument; and the 
clamour against the Bulgarian atrocities for the moment 
seems to have confounded him. 

In the region of Foreign Affairs we see the same 
defect. In much that he wrote about the French Al- 
liance, on the occasions when he still insisted on 
it as a practical article of our policy, he forgot 
that since the days when the French Alliance was a 
reality, a hundred and twenty years of almost con- 
stant hostility had intervened; that the system 
under which France came to be regarded as the natural 
enemy of England, had been rivetted on this country 
by the Whigs, and clinched by the Revolutionary war. 
He forgot that the Bourbons could never forgive us after 
the war of the Spanish Succession, or the loss of India, 
or the loss of Canada. He forgot that with the 
decline of Spain and Holland, France succeeded to their 
place as the great maritime rival of Great Britain, 



STATESMAN AND OBATOB. 179 

while in the meantime our connection with Germany 
had been relieved of its old burdens and strengthened by 
many new ties. 

I have already said that these beliefs and specu- 
lations had but little influence on his practical policy, 
and it may be thought, therefore, that they had 
no result at all, and that it is unnecessary to say 
anything about them. But that is not exactly true, 
for they flavoured Lord Beaconsfield's language when 
they did not affect his conduct, and imparted a some- 
what fanciful character to what, stripped of these gar- 
ments, was often very plain common-sense. This, to 
some extent retarded his rise in life, and made those 
" sober politicians," whose voice in the long run is 
always in this country decisive, distrust and underrate 
him. This peculiarity in a statesman whose lot is cast 
in a country governed by popular institutions, is certainly 
a defect, which all Lord Beaconsfield's marvellous power 
of keeping his imagination under the control of his 
reason in the practical conduct of affairs was unable to 
completely neutralise. 

It may be added, in conclusion, that Lord Beacons- 
field was, perhaps, the first to perceive that one result 
of the overtiirovv of the old constitution must be to throw 
great additional power into the hands of individuals. 
He had hoped, no doubt, that the individual to profit 
by the tendency would be the Sovereign. Events have 
given the power to the Minister, who, with a House 
of Commons' majority, at the present day approaches 
far more nearly to the position of a dictator than 
ever he did under the old system. Then both the 
Sovereign, and the aristocracy through their nominees, 
possessed some control over him. But now they can 
exercise none ; and Members of Parliament returned to 

12 * 



180 LIFE OF LORD BFACONSFIELD, 

support him by numerous popular constituencies, even 
if popular opinion runs against him at a particular 
moment, will scarcely give a hostile vote, because the 
fickleness of a purely democratic electorate is so great 
that they can never tell how soon the wind may change, 
and the majority veer round again to their former 
unqualified allegiance. When a great noble saw cause 
to withdraw his support from the Government of the 
day it was not till after due consideration, and his 
resolution was probably permanent. But that is not the 
case with a great popular constituency; and, though on 
occasions of exceptional magnitude and rare occurrence 
members will still, as ever, act for themselves in spite of 
all party obligation; still in ordinary times there is 
nothing now behind the House of Commons which a 
minister has to fear during his seven years of office, 
compared with what there was formerly, and, in this 
sense of the word, personal government has resulted 
trom what was supposed to be a great measure for the 
extension of popular power. 

As an orator, Lord Beaconsfield stands high, but not 
perhaps in the first class. If he does, it is in the class 
to which Pitt and Grenville belonged; not to that 
which is peopled by Chatham, Fox and Canning. If 
to the highest level of oratory a certain fire and im- 
petuosity is indispensable-— that white heat which is 
sometimes perceptible in Mr. Gladstone, that boiling 
torrent of words which his contemporaries admired in 
Mr. Fox — then to this level Lord Beaconsfield did not 
attain. But if we consider not inferior to this the more 
stately and measured eloquence, calm and proud, and 
over-mastering us with the sense of power, which tradition 
ascribes to the first two statesmen I have named, did Lord 
Beaconsfield attain to this ? Nearer certainly than to the 



STATESMAN AND OEATOE, 181 

other. In some of the speeches especially which he de- 
livered after his retirement from office in 1880, there is 
ft tone of mingled gravity and dignity, well befitting the 
political veteran, which is deeply impressive, and often 
recalls to us what we have heard of the manner of Mr. 
Pitt. A good specimen is the close of his speech on 
the Address in January 1881, when the Government 
which had abandoned the Peace Preservation Act, to 
mark their sense of Lord Beaconsfield's mis-government, 
came down to Parliament and asked for similar power 
for themselves. Lord Beaconsfield, after commenting 
severely on their conduct, proceeded as follows : — 

It may be said, If these are your views, why do you not call upon 
Parliament to express them ? Well, I do not know anything which 
would be more justifiable than an amendment to the Address ex- 
pressing our deep regret that measures far maintaining peace and 
order, for guarding life and property, and, let me add, liberty, which, 
I think, is equally in danger in Ireland, were not taken in time, and 
pointing out that if such measures had been taken in time, an enormous 
number of terrible incidents might have been averted ; that men would 
now have been alive who have been murdered : that houses would now 
have been in existence that have been bui'ned ; that cases of torture to 
man and beast would never have happened — for these things, as your 
Lordships are aware, have mainly occurred within the past two months. 
But, my Lord, there are occasions when even party considerations must 
be given up. There are occasions when it ma}'' not be wise, even for 
your Lordships, to place yourselves, as it were, at the head of public 
opinion in indignant remonstrance at the action of the Ministry. The 
great dangers and disasters which have been impending, or have hap- 
pened in this country during the past nine months, have arisen from 
the abuse of party feeling ; and for that reason alone, if there were 
no other, I would recommend j'our Lordships to pause before taking 
any step which would weaken the movements of the Administration at 
this moment. I conclude that the Government have come to their 
determination in a bond fide spirit. I expect that their Bills when 
introduced will be found adequate to the occasion, for I am convinced 
that only ridicule will result if they are not conceived in a compre- 
hensive spirit. I conclude, also, that it is now their intention to pro- 
ceed with these Bills de die in diem, in order that some hope, some 



182 LIFE OF LORD BFAC0N8FIELD. 

courage, may be given to our loyal and long-suffering subjects in Ire- 
land. When those Bills have been passed, we shall be ready to con- 
sider any other measures ■which Her Majesty's Government may bring 
before Parliament. But I think it utter mockery to discuss any ques- 
tions connected with Ireland now, except the restoration of peace and 
order, the re-establishment of the sovereignty of the Queen, and a 
policy that will announce to Europe that the spirit of England has not 
ceased, and that, great as are the changes that now environ Ministers, 
the Parliament of England will be equal to the occasion. 

Another example may be quoted from his speech on 
the evacuation of Candahar in the following March, 
only six weeks before his death : — 

My opinion is that, though such places may not be essential to us, 
yet that I should regret to see any great military Power in possession 
of them. I should look upon such an event with regret, and perhaps 
■with some degree of apprehension; but if the great military Power 
were there, I trust we might still be able to maintain our Empire. 
But, my Lords, the key of India is not Herat or Candahar. The key 
of India is in London. The majesty and sovereignty, the spirit and 
vigour of your Parliament, the inexhaustible resources, the ingenuity, 
and determination of your people — these are the keys of India. 

Bat a better example still, perhaps, may be found in a 

much earlier speech, one delivered in May 1865, on the 

Borough Franchise ; and it is perhaps the best example 

of his graver style of eloquence that can be cited. 

Between the scheme we brought forward (2.6. 1859) and the measure 
now brought forward by the honourable member for Leeds, and the 
inevitable conclusion which its principal supporters acknowledge it 
must lead to, it is a question between an aristocratic government, in 
the proper sense of the term — that is, a government by the best 
men of all classes — and a democracy. I doubt very much whether 
a democracy is a government that would suit this country ; and it 
is just as well that the House, when coming to a vote on this 
question, should really consider if that be the issue — and it is the 
real issue, between retaining the present Constitution, not the present 
constituent body, but between the present Constitution and a demo- 
cracy — it is just as well for the House to recollect that the stake is 
not mean, that what is at issue is of some price. You must remem- 
ber, not to use the epithet profanely, that we are dealing really with 
a peculiar people. There is no country at the present moment that 



STATESMAN AND OBATOB. 183 

exists nnder the circumstanees and under the same conditions as the 
people of this realm. You have, for example, an ancient, powerful, 
richly-endowed Church and perfect religious liberty. You have un- 
broken order and complete freedom. You have landed estates as 
large as the Romany, combined with commercial enterprise such as 
Carthage and Venice united never equalled. And you must remember 
that this peculiar country, with these strong contrasts, is not governed 
by force ; it is not governed by standing armies, it is governed by a most 
singular series of traditionary influences which, generation after gene- 
ration, cherishes and preserves, because it knows that they embalm 
custom and represent law. And, with this, what have you done ? 
You have created the greatest Empire of modern time. You have 
amassed a capital of fabulous amount, you have devised and sustained 
a system of credit still more marvellous, and, above all, you have 
established and maintained a scheme of labour and industry so vast 
and complicated that the history of the world has no parallel to it. 
And all these mighty creations are out of all proportiou to the essen- 
tial and indigenous elements and resources of the country. If you de- 
stroy that state of society, remember this — England cannot begin again. 
There are countries which have been in great danger, and gone 
through great suffering — the United States, for example, whose for- 
tunes are now so perilous, and who, in our own immediate day, have 
had great trials ; you have had — perhaps even now in the United 
States of America you have — a protracted and fratricidal civil war, 
which has lasted for four years ; but if it lasted for four years more, 
vast as would be the disaster and desolation, when ended the United 
States might begin again, because the United States then would only 
be in the same condition that England was at the end of the War of 
the Roses, when probably she had not even 3,000,000 of population, 
with vast tracts of virgin soil and mineral treasures, not only unde- 
veloped, but undreamt of. Then you have France. France had a 
real revolution in this century — a real revolution, not only a political, 
but a social revolution, the institutions of the country were uprooted, 
the orders of society were abolished — even the landmarks and local 
names removed and erased. But Fi-ance could begin again. France 
had the greatest spread of the most exuberant soil in Europe, and a 
climate not less genial. She had, and always had, comparatively, a 
limited population, living in the most simple manner. France, there- 
fore, could begin again. But England — the England we know, the 
England we live in, the England of which we are proud — could not 
begin again." 

These, and other passages which might be quoted, 
flash out great Uuths, and elevated sentiments in the 



184 LIFB OF LORD JBEACONSFIELB, 

language most appropriate to tbem, the language of 
perfect simplicity. But Lord Beaconsfield at the same 
time was a great master of rhetoric, and some of his 
greatest effects were produced by the dexterous employ- 
ment of it. His description of the landed interest in 
1849, which has been already quoted,* is a good illustra- 
tion of his powers. 

Another highly-wrought passage is the peroration to 
that speech of 1848 which, as stated above,t secured 
him the leadership of his party in the House of Com- 
mons. The subject is the failure of legislative power 
in that Assembly, which the orator attributes to the 
absence of authority in the Government, and the break- 
ing up of the House into a number of small cliques. 

After all their deliberations, after all their foresight, after all their 
observation of the times, after all their study of the public interest, 
when their measures are launched from the Cabinet into this House, 
they are not received here by a confiding majority — confiding, I mean, 
in their faith in the statesmanlike qualifications of their authors, and 
in their sympathy with the great political principles professed by the 
members of the administration. On the contrary, the success of their 
measures in this House depends on a variety of small parties, who, in 
their aggregate, exceed in number and influence the pai'ty of the 
ministers. The temper of one leader has to be watched ; the indica- 
tion of the opinion of another has to be observed ; the disposition of a 
third has to be suited ; so that a measure is so altered, remoulded, 
remodelled, patched, cobbled, painted, veneered, and varnished, that 
at last no trace is left of the original scope and scheme ; or it is with- 
drawn in disgust by its originators, after having been subjected to 
prolonged and elaborate discussions in this House. 

Men in their sitiiation will naturally say, " What is the use of taking 
all these pains, of bestowing all this care, study, and foresight on the 
preparation of a measure, when the moment it is out of our hands it 
ceases to be the measure of the Cabinet, and becomes essentially the 
measure of the House of Commons ? " And, therefore, measures are 
thrown before us with the foregone conclusion that we are to save the 
Administration much care and trouble in preparing the means of 
governing the country. Thus it happens that the House of Commons, 

* P. 71. t P. 69. 



STATESMAN AND OBATOB. 185 

instead of being a purely legislative body, is every day becoming a 
mere administrative assembly. The House of Commons, as now con- 
ducted, is a great committee, sitting on public affairs, in which every 
man speaks with the same right, and most of us with the same 
weight : no more the disciplined array of traditional influences and 
hereditary opinions — the realised experience of ancient society and of 
a race that for generations has lived and flourished in the high prac- 
tice of a noble system of self-government — that is all past. For these 
the future is to provide us with a compensatory alternative in the 
conceits of the illiterate, the crotchets of the whimsical, the violent 
courses of a vulgar ambition, that acknowledges no gratitude to anti- 
quity, to posterity no duty ; until at last this free and famous Parlia- 
ment of England is to subside to the low-water mark of those national 
assemblies and those provisional conventions that are at the same 
time the terror and the derision of the world. 

But undoubtedly when we think of Lord Beaconsfield 
as an orator, we think rather of his wit, his humour, 
and his sarcasms, than of his higher and more serious 
flights of eloquence. On the lower ground he has no 
superior, and it maybe doubted if he ever had an equal. 
But it is impossible to preserve the spirit and flavour of 
eloquence of this description when the circumstances 
which gave it point and purpose have either lost interest 
or are totally forgotten. Even Townsend's " champagne 
speech," now that the cork has been drawn so long, would 
probably read very flat could we have it restored in its 
integrity. And so it is with some of Lord Beaconsfield's 
most celebrated witticisms, and still more with that 
matchless vein of irony in which he loved to address the 
members of the hated " coalition." To give any fair 
idea of its quality we should have to quote whole speeches, 
since the effect is often not produced by felicitous 
images or pungent epigrams, but by one continuous 
flow of elaborate mockery, which does not admit of 
being broken up, and which cannot be appreciated even 
as it stands without a minute acquaintance with the 
political and Parliamentary circumstances to which it is 



186 LIFE OF LOED BEACONSFIFLD. 

addressed. For such as wish to judge for themselves, I 
may mention his speech of February 18tb, 1853, as 
perhaps the most perfect specimen of the kind I have 
already mentioned. 

I have quoted, at p. 61, perhaps the finest of all his 
sarcasms levelled at Sir Kobert Peel. But one more 
must still be added : — 

Sir, I must say that such a Minister may be conscientious, but that 
he is unfortunate. I will say, also, that he ought to be the last man 
in the world to turn round and upbraid his party in a tone of menace. 
Sir, there is a diflBculty in finding a parallel to the position of the 
right honourable gentleman in any part of history. The only 
parallel which I can find is an incident* in the late war in the 
Levant, which was terminated by the policy of the noble lord 
opposite. I remember when that great struggle was taking 
place, when the existence of the Turkish empire was at stake, 
the late Saltan, a man of great energy and fertile in resources, 
was determined to fit out an immense fleet to maintain his 
empire. Accordingly a vast armament was collected. It consisted of 
some of the finest ships that were ever built. The crews were picked 
men, the officers were the ablest that could be found, and both officers 
and men were rewarded before they fought. There never was an 
armament which left the Dardanelles similarly appointed since the 
days of Solyman the Great. The Sultan personally witnessed the 
departure of the fleet ; all the muftis prayed for the success of the 
expedition, as all the muftis here prayed for the success of the last 
General Election. Away went the fleet, but what was the Sultan's 
consternation, when the Lord High Admiral steered at once into the 
enemy's port ! Now, Sir, the Lord High Admiral on that occasion 
was very much misrepresented. He, too, was called a traitor, and he, 
too, vindicated himself. " True it is," he said, " I did place myself at 
the head of this valiant armada : true it is that my Sovereign em- 
braced me ; true it is that all the muftis in the empire offered up 
prayers for my success : but I have an objection to war. I see no use 
in prolonging the struggle, and the only reason I had for accepting the 
command was that I might terminate the contest by betraying my 
master." 

* The delivery of the Turkish Fleet to Mehemet All by Achmet 
Pasha, the Turkish High Admiral, June 30th 1839 



STATESMAN AND ORATOR. 187 

With one more quotation I must hasten to con- 
clude this chapter. It is from a speech delivered 
at Edinburgh in October 1867, which was an ex- 
haustive presentation of his case on Parliamentary 
Keform : — 

I see many gentlemen here who have been, no doubt, inspectors hke 
myself, as magistrates, of peculiar asylums, who meet there some 
cases which I have thought at the same time the most absurd and the 
most distressing ; it is when the lunatic believes all the world is mad, 
and that he himself is sane. But to pass from such gloomy imagery, 
really these " Edinburgh " and " Quarterly " Reviews, no man admires 
them more than myself. But 1 admire them as I do first-rate, first- 
class posting-houses, which in old days for half a century or so — to use 
Manchester phrase — carried on a roaring trade. Then there comes 
some revolution or progress which no person can ever have contem- 
plated. They find things are altered. They do not understand them, 
and instead of that intense competition and mutual vindictiveness 
which before distinguished them, they suddenly quite agree. The 
"boots" of the "Blue Boar" and the chambei'-maid of the " Red 
Lion " embrace, and are quite in accord in this — in denouncing the 
infamy of railroads. 

Between the effect of this raillery, when delivered by 
the orator himself with all the advantages of voice, eye, 
and gesture, when the subject-matter of it was a topic 
of daily conversation, and the effect of it reproduced in 
print twenty years afterwards, the difference is almost 
as great as between a living man and his portrait. 
Quid si ipsimi tonantem auditisses. The difference 
is peculiarly marked in passages of wit and humour 
arising out of temporary incidents, and dependent for 
their flavour on their freshness. 



188 LIFE OF LOUD BEAG0N8FIELD. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

LOED BEACONSFIELD AS A MAN OF LETTERS. 

Lord Beaconsfield's works — His earlier novels — Plots of Coningaby 
and Sybil — Tancred, Lothair and Endymion — Three prose bur- 
lesques — Political writings — Lord Beaconslield's style. 

Lord Beaconsfield was the author of eleven novels, 
namely, Vivian Grey published in 1826, the Young 
Duke in 1831, Contarini Fleming in 1832, Tlte Won- 
drous Tale of Alroy in 1833, Henrietta Temple in 1836, 
Venetia in 1837, Coningshy in 1844, Syhil in 1845, 
Tancred in 1847, Lothair in 1870, and Endymion in 
1880. Besides these he published the Rise of hhander 
in 1833, the Revolutionary Epic in 1834, and Count 
AlarcoSy a tragedy, in 1839. His three burlesques, 
namely, Topanilla, Ixion in Heaven, and the Infernal 
Marriage, were given to the world between 1828 and 
1833. The political pamphlets which bear his name 
appeared in the following order : — What is He"} in 1833, 
The Crisis Examined in 1834, Tlie Vindication oj 
the British Constitution in 1835, and the Letters of 
Eunnyniede and the Spirit of Whiggism in 1836. In 
1852 appeared his Life of Lord George Bentinck. 

Vivian Grey as the production of a youth of one and 
twenty, has been deservedly extolled, and at the time of 
its publication its originality and its audacity took the 
world by storm. But we have got used to Lord Bea- 



AS A MAN OF LETTERS. 189 

consfield since then, and Viviafi Grey, which amazed 
his contemporaries, is not so entertaining to ourselves. 
It has no plot deserving of the name, and the political 
intrigues described in it betray the age and inexperience 
of the writer, and are almost unreadable at the present 
day. What remains is a dashing smartness and neat- 
ness in the dialogue, and some brilliant bits of social 
satire, derived, however, more from books than from 
nature, and only showing by their popularity the low 
ebb to which fashionable fiction must have fallen sixty 
years ago. Mrs. Felix Lorraine and Cleveland, the 
wicked intriguante and the disappointed, half-maddened 
politician, are the two best characters in the book. To 
one who is not depicted in the brightest colours he, 
curiously enough, assigns the title of Lord Beaconsfield. 
In the latter part of it, the scene is laid entirely abroad. 
There are some amusing sketches of the gaming tables. 
But the story is silently dropped, and the hero disappears 
in a deluge. 

The Young Diike is inferior to Vivian Grey in that 
particular quality for which we can find no better name 
than "rattle," and which carries off a multitude of errors. 
But it is a better story and introduces us to more inte- 
resting people. It is a specimen of what used to be called 
the novel of high life — the noble young millionaire 
who spends half his fortune in licentious dissipation, 
and, when he is tired of it, settles down respectably on the 
remainder, and marries a girl much too good for him. 

Of his earlier novels, Contarini Fleming, I think, is 
decidedly the best. Uenfant incompris is a character 
of which, in most hands, one soon grows weary. But 
in the analysis of passion and the development of 
character presented to us in Contarini Fleming^ there is 
such a vivid reality, that it reads like a personal ex-. 



190 LIFE OF LORD BEAC0N8FIFLD. 

perience, as, for what we know, it may be. In the in- 
cidents and plot there is nothing incredible or fantastic. 
The love scenes are natural and touching, and it seems 
to afford much better evidence of the author's intellectual 
power than either of its two predecessors. 

The Wo?idrous Tale of Alroy is an Oriental fiction 
founded on aHebrew tradition concerning the ''Princes of 
the Captivity " — rulers whom the Jews continued to elect 
from among the descendants of the House of David even 
after the dispersion. Alroy is one of them, who, after 
a long interregnum, possessing himself, by supernatural 
assistance, of the sceptre of Solomon, establishes the 
Hebrew monarchy on the ruins of the Caliphate of Bag- 
dad. His life is of course short, and his reign much 
shorter. But his adventures are told with great spirit. 
The whole narrative is brilliantly coloured; and in tales 
of this kind, in which heroes compel genii to do their 
bidding, and we pass backwards and forwards from the 
natural to the supernatural by such frequent and easy 
transitions that we hardly know one from the other, 
nothing, of course, can be called either monstrous or 
extravagant. 

The Rise of Ishander \^ a tale of the Turkish wars of 
Amurath II., and on reading it through a second time, 
I find I have nothing to say about it. It is short and 
interesting enough for an ordinary magazine story. 

An interval of four years separates Alroy from Lord 
Beaconsfield's next work of fiction, which is a marked 
advance on his more juvenile productions. Henrietta 
Temple, indeed, is of his non-political novels by far the 
best. The love passages remind one of Borneo and Juliet^ 
and the scene in the sponging-house might have been 
written by Fielding. The picture of the ancient family, 
proud in their decay, and clinging with desperate tena- 



AS A MAN OF LETTERS, 191 

city to their mortgaged estates, is an interesting and 
touching one. It has been said that Count Mirabel 
was a bad portrait of Count D'Orsay. 

Venetia is chiefly remarkable as an attempt " to 
shadow forth, though as in a glass darkly, two of the 
most renowned and refined spirits that have adorned 
these our latter days." The two are Byron and Shelley. 
Had these been likenesses, the novel would have been 
better known. But the attempt to reproduce literary 
characters in novels has rarely been successful. Kings, 
statesmen, and soldiers are men of action, and lend 
themselves readily to all the requirements of fiction. 
i5ut in the case of men of letters, it is what they thought, 
not what they did, which requires to be reproduced if 
the picture is to interest us. To describe such men 
merely by their external characteristics or habits is to 
trifle with the reader. The attempt to imitate their con- 
versation betrays, generally speaking, only the inferiority 
of the imitator. Byron's actions, no doubt, afford plenty 
of materials for romance; but then it is impossible to 
separate the champion of the Greeks, from the satirist 
of the English, or the practical philanthropist from the 
literary misanthrope. Venetia^ on the whole, is per- 
haps, the least interesting of all Mr. Disraeli's fictions. 

With Coningshy and Sybil we turn over a new chapter 
in Mr. Disraeli's literary career. He now reverts to 
the political novel which he had essayed twenty years 
before, and very wisely relinquished till he had ac- 
quired some actual experience of the men and manners 
to be depicted. His object in these celebrated works 
was simply to reproduce, in the form of fiction, those 
political and constitutional theories which he had origi- 
nally touched in the letters and essays to which I shall 
presently revert. What these were has already been 



192 LIFE OF LORD BFACONSFIELD. 

sufficiently explained. We have now only to consider 
the literary and dramatic merit with which they were in- 
troduced to ''the new generation." 

The plot in Goningshy is, I think, Mr. Disraeli^s best, 
the secret being well kept, and the catastrophe and de- 
nouement both skilfully contrived. The story has, in 
part, been anticipated.* The hero is introduced to us 
while he is still a boy at Eton, in that memorable 
month of May 1832, when Lord Lyndhurst and the 
Duke of Wellington were engaged in the last expiring 
effort of the Tory Party to defeat the Whig Reform 
Bill. His grandfather, the Marquis of Monmouth, 
returns to England as Coningsby is leaving Eton in 
1836, and our young hero eri route for Ooningsby 
Castle, pays a visit to his friend Lord H. Sidney at 
Beaumanoir (Belvoir). On his way from Beaumanoir 
to Coningsby, he visits Manchester and the factories of 
Millbank senior, who invites him to dinner, and intro- 
duces him to his daughter, a beautiful girl of sixteen. 

To amuse his guests at Coningsby, among whom are 
numbered the Prince and Princess Colonna and their 
daughter Lucretia, the Marquis engages a company of 
French actors, under the management of Villebecque, 
whose daughter Flora makes her first appearance on 
the castle stage. Flora is a pretty delicate girl, who 
breaks down as an actress, but remains as a kind of 
companion to the Princess Lucretia, and experiences 
many little acts of kindness at the hands of Coningsby, 
who often noticed, and endeavoured to relieve, the 
somewhat awkward and forlorn position in which she 
found herself. 

Having introduced the principal persons, the re- 
mainder of our sketch may be shortened. There is a 

* p. 40. 



AS A MAN OF LETTERS. 193 

long-standing feud between the Marquis and Mr. Mill- 
bank, who beats Rigby for the Marquis's pocket 
borough, steps in and buys an estate on which he had 
set his heart, and thwarts and annoys him in every pos- 
sible manner. Coningsby and MissMillbank, of course, 
fall in love with each other, the result being that Mill- 
bank forbids him his house and his grandfather disin- 
herits him. The Marquis had married the Princess 
Lucretia, who conspired with Rigby to do Coningsby 
this injury by representing his connection with the Mill- 
banks in the worst possible light : Coningsby having 
previously oflfended the Marquis by refusing to stand 
for Darlford against Edith's father. But they do not gain 
much by their manoeuvres. When the Marquis's will is 
opened, it is found that he has left the bulk of his im- 
mense property to Flora, who turns out to be his natural 
daughter. Now Flora had been secretly in love with 
Coningsby ever since they met at the Castle, and, when 
she dies of consumption, leaves her whole immense pro- 
perty to the hero, who, however, has been reconciled to 
the Millbanks and engaged to Edith before the turn in 
his fortunes. 

This plot has always seemed to me a very good one, 
better than that oi S//bil, because the events are brought 
about more naturally and without any touch of melo- 
drama, of which Sybilf exquisite as the story is, presents 
here and there a slight suspicion. In Sybil, however, 
the plot is sufiBciently ingenious, while the story and the 
character make it even more interesting than Co7iingsby, 
Sybil herself is one of the most exquisite creations 
which the hand of fiction ever drew. But the descrip- 
tion of factory life and the cruelty and extortion to 
which the working classes were exposed at the hands 
of their employers, scenes described from personal 

13 



194 LIFE OF LOBD BEACONSFIELB. 

observation, are the most striking portion of the book, 
as well as the most humorous and graphic. 

But apart from the story, we have both in Coningshj/ 
and Sybil a collection of political and social sketches, 
to which we doubt if English literature contains any- 
thing that is superior: Rigby himself; Mr. Ormsby, the 
man of society who has " forty thousand a year paid 
quarterly," and whose world is bounded by Mayfair, 
St. James's, and Pall Mall ; Tadpole and Taper, the two 
political underlings; Lord Marney, the thoroughly 
selfish, able man, who believes he can go through 
life on the principles of Helvetius — are beyond all 
praise as types of the class they are intended to repre- 
sent, with its mingled cynicism and good nature, its 
common sense, its addiction to gossip, and its perfect 
satisfaction with the little world in which it lives, out- 
side of which it knows nothing. Of all these, perhaps 
Lord Marney is the most original. I can think of 
nothing like him in any other English novel ; and yet 
we have all met such men, men in whom selfishness is so 
complete and so candid as almost to excite our admira- 
tion, and in whom the love of contradiction amounts to 
monomania, *' The great difiBculty with Lord Marney," 
says the author, " was to find a sufficient stock of 
opposition ; but he lay in wait, and seized every oppor- 
tunity with wonderful alacrity. Even Captain Grouse 
could not escape him ; if driven to extremity, he would 
even question his principles on fly-making." On these 
two characters Mr. Ormsby and Lord Marney, Mr. 
Disraeli may stake his reputation. Tadpole and Taper 
have, of course, become household w^ords ; but they are 
interesting chiefly for the political satire of which they 
are the vehicles. They are not finished off with the 
delicacy of Mr. Ormsby and Lord Marney, who are 



AS A MAN OF LETTERS. 195 

interesting exclusively as specimens of human nature 
quite irrespective of politics. 

The dialogue in which these various characters are 
revealed to the reader is equally good. Mr. Ormshy's 
remarks on Lord Monmouth's separation from his wife, 
and Lord Marney's conversation with the clergyman, Mr. 
St. Lys, in Sijbil, may be taken at random as examples 
of the author's art in making his characters speak for 
themselves. We might mention beside a host of minor 
personages redolent of that humour which Mr. Disraeli 
has borrowed from nobody. Mr. Cassilis, the elderly 
dandy, who, upon hearing of Young England, and under- 
standing that *' it requires a doosed deal of history and 
all that sort of thing," gravely observes that " one must 
brush up one's Goldsmith," Devilsdust, Stephen Morley, 
Baptist Hatton, Lady St. Julian, Lady Deloraine, Lady 
Firebrace, and last, not least, that finished portrait, 
Lord Eskdale, form a gallery which would alone have 
made the painter famous had he no other title to dis- 
tinction. 

Of Tancred the great merit lies in the description of 
Syria, and of life in the mountain and the desert, in 
which it abounds. Tancred is a high-born youth dis- 
satisfied with modern society, yearning for the restora- 
tion of faith, and resolving to visit the land in which 
the Creator had conversed with man as being the only 
spot in which it is at all likely that illumination or 
inspiration will be vouchsafed to him. The story of his 
adventures is told with wonderful spirit and beauty. But 
the vision of Tancred on Mount Sinai is the application 
of fiction to purposes for which it never was intended, 
and even of those who have no religious feelings to be 
wounded by it, the taste is likely to be shocked. 

Between the publication of Tancred in 1847, and 

13 * 



196 LIFE OF LOED BFAC0N8FIFLD, 

the publication of Lothair^ a much longer interval 
occurred. Loihair was not written till the author was 
sixty-five, and had already been Prime Mioister. But 
it shows no falling off in his humour and powers of 
description. Lothair, like the young duke, is a noble 
millionaire succeeding to an immense fortune after a 
long minority, but whose character and career are very 
different. The Roman Catholic Church and the Revo- 
lutionary Societies run a race against each other for 
his money, which is won by the latter, chiefly through 
the influence of an American lady who is the inspiring 
spirit of the Italian patriots."^ His adventures with 
both parties, and his final escape to England, where he 
recovers his senses, saves the remainder of his fortune, 
and marries the Lady Oorisande, need not be narrated 
here. Many of the characters in the story are in the 
author's best manner. Mr. Phoebus the painter, who 
** has always been of opinion that reading and writing 
are very injurious to education "; Mr Putney Giles, 
the wealthy solicitor ; Lord St. Aldegonde, who de- 
clares in the presence of two bishops that ** he hates 
Sunday," are inferior only to the characters already 
singled out for praise in Coningshy and Sybil. 

Endymion was published in 1880, and in this the 
signs of advancing age are visible. It is an exclusively 
political story, and it is odd that his first and his last 
novel should in some respects be more like each 
other than those which came between. Endymion's 
father reminds one of Cleveland ; Endymion is very 
unlike Vivian Grey in point of character and judgment, 
and he does not rise in life by the same tactics which 
caused Vivian Grey to fall; but there is the same air 

* Since the above was written it has been stated by Mr. Froudo 
that the " General " in Lothair was meant for General Oluseret. 



AS A MAN OF LETTERS. 197 

of unreality about the incidents recorded, and the fact 
that more than one leading character is compounded of 
several originals, without much care being taken in the 
blending of the colours, helps still further to confuse 
the reader. For all that, however, the book bears 
unmistakable marks of its author's genius, and the 
account of " the crisis" in 1834 and the bitter disap- 
pointment of Travers, is as interesting and as powerful 
as anything he has ever written. 

It has been said that a common thought runs through 
all Lord Beaconsfield's novels from first to last ; the 
struggles of some youth of genius", striving to emancipate 
himself from the tryanny of custom, whether it be social 
or political. That several of Lord Beaconsfield's heroes 
are in some degree reflections of himself may be admitted, 
and it follows, therefore, that what he was doing in life, 
they seem to be doing also. But if this was a favourite 
idea with Mr. Disraeli, it was not universally embodied 
in the creations of his fancy, not in Alroy^ not in 
Henrietta Temple^ not in Endijmion, It is an idea 
very likely to occur to any young man of great intellec- 
tual power, who finds his station in life not equal to 
his ambition. And that it should have had a great 
fascination for Benjamin Disraeli is only what we 
might expect. 

The three prose burlesques deserve to be better known 
than they are. The Infernal Marriaf/e and the Voxjage 
of Popanilla are both political squibs, descriptive of the 
state of parties at the time they were written. In the 
first, Proserpine is taken to Elysium, that is, goes to 
Court, and becomes a great lady nnd a leader of society. 
The Gods and the Giants are the Liberals and the Tories 
during the ministry of Mr.Canning, so that Mr. Trolloi)e 
was not original in his application of these namt s to them. 



198 LIFE OF LORD BEACONSFIELD, 

The Duke of Wellington is then Enceladus, and Sir 
Robert Peel, Hyperion. But in Vopanilla, when he 
becomes Prime Minister, he is Chiron the Centaur, who 
can use his heels as well as his head. Ixion in 
Heaven is rather social than political ; a not ill-natured 
satire on the Court and society. Jupiter is George the 
Fourth, with " an immortal waist.'' Apollo is Byron, 
calling for soda-water and biscuits, which they do not 
keep in Olympus, and finally consoling himself with 
something much more substantial. It is very amusing, 
the dialogue extremely clever, and sixty years ago, 
when mnny of the minor characters and more obscure 
allusions would have been appreciated, should have 
attained some celebrity. By-the-by, when Ixion is 
asked to write something in Minerva's Album, he 
writes : " Adventures are to the adventurous," clearly 
proving that the omniscient Sidoniawas acquainted with 
\k\\^jeu (V esprit. Pojmnilla is a professed imitation of 
Gulliver's Travels^ but is very fresh, sparkling, and 
original, for all that. 

Lord Beaconsfield is the author of certainly two, 
and possibly three works in verse, the Modern Dun- 
ciad^ of which enough has been already said ; the 
Revolutionary Epic, and Count Alarcos. The Revolu- 
tionary Epic contains some really fine passages. The 
plan of the poem is simply this : Magros, the 
genius of Feudalism, creates the Teutonic races, and 
establishes that system in the world, and about one- 
third of the poem is a description of its virtues. Then 
arises upon earth a destructive monster called 
" Change," whose deeds pave the way for Lyridon, 
the genius of Federation, who in his turn sings the 
praises of liberty, fraternity, and equality. The con- 
cluding portion of the piece is the conquest of Italy by 



AS A MAN OF LETTERS, 199 

Napoleon. Productions much inferior to the Revo- 
lutionary Epic have caused their authors to be enrolled 
among English poets. But only the very best can 
bear the blaze of Lord Beaconsfield's fame, and any- 
thing less than that seems so totally unworthy of it 
as to be consigned to a lower place in literature than 
perhaps, on its merits, it deserves. 

The tragedy of Alarcos is founded on the Spanish 
ballad of the same name, said by Ticknor to be " one of 
the most beautiful and touching in any language." It 
has been translated by Lockhart, and no less than four 
Spanish plays have been founded on it ; but as I have 
not read them I cannot say how far, if at all, Lord 
Beaconsfield was indebted to them. His own Play is 
well written and contains some characteristic lines : — 
Aye — ever pert is youth that baffles ago. 

And these still more so — 

The Countess. 

Hast thou still foes? 

The Count. 

I trust so : I should not be what I am, 
Still less what I will be, if hate did not 
Pursue me, as my shadow. 

Of the four political compositions which I have already 
enumerated the first in order of time is a short piece 
entitled What, is He ? written in 1833, shortly after his 
first contest at High Wycombe, in order to explain 
what Tory Radicalism meant. In it he says that 
as neither the Whigs"^ nor the Tories can carry on the 
Government with the new machinery, a new party is 
required. That must be either aristocratic or democratic. 

* See Letters of Peel in Croker Papers. 



200 LIFH OF LORD BEAC0N8FIELD. 

Aristocratic, however, it cannot be, for the aristocratic 
principle perished out of the Constitution when the Lords 
gave way on the Eeform Bill. It could not be restored 
by force : nor yet for more than a very brief period by a 
coalition between the Whigs and Tories, and it therefore 
becomes the duty of the Tory party to coalesce with 
Eadicals. He says here what he repeats in Coningshij, 
that *' it was not the Reform Bill itself which has shaken 
the aristocracy of the country, but the means by which 
it was carried/' The Crisis Examined is the substance 
of a speech delivered by him at High Wycombe, Decem- 
ber 16th, 1834, and is to be found at page 8. In 
this we find that the views expressed in the previous 
pamphlet had already undergone some modification. In 
What is He ? he told us that the Whigs have succeeded 
in overpowering the House of Lords, and the aristo- 
ratic principle is destroyed. He now speaks of what 
might have happened if they had done so. The rally 
of the Tory party under Peel and Wellington seems to 
have shaken his convictions and led him to suspect 
that his prophecies had been premature. 

It was in the following year, 1835, after the resigna- 
tion of Sir Robert Peel's short-lived but able adminis- 
tration, that Mr. Disraeli published his Vindication 
of the English Cofistituiion, wherein are laid down 
in a more formal manner the majority of those poli- 
tical precepts, which were afterwards reproduced in a 
more popular shape in the dialogues between Ooningsby 
and Sidonia. The rise and progress of the English 
Parliament, the nature of the Plantagenet Monarchy, 
its alteration by the Tudors and Stuarts, and its 
attempted revival by the aristocracy in the reign of 
Charles the First; the origin of the '* Venetian " 
Constitution, the refusal of William to submit to it. 



AS A MAN OF LETTERS. 201 

aud the struggles of the Georges to escape from it; 
the democratic or popular Toryism which was always 
opposed to the oligarchy, and which enabled George 
the Third to bridle it; the distortion of English history 
which the Whigs have so sedulously fostered, and 
which the Tories have been too indolent to combat ; 
all these, with many auxiliary speculations which did 
not so readily fall in with the plan of a novel, are to 
be found in the Vinclicatiofty drawn out with great clear- 
ness and ingenuity, and expressed in language at once 
vigorous, precise, and elegant, qualities for which Mr. 
Disraeli's English prose is not invariably conspicuous. 
It is needless to defend its accuracy at every point, 
and against all comers. The question is whether this 
epitome of our Constitutional history is true in the spirit. 
It is remarkable, indeed, that we do not find in 
Coni?igshy the same construction placed on the resist- 
ance to Charles the First which we find in the Vindi- 
cation. In the latter the author's sympathies are with 
the Parliament, in the former they are with the King. 
But the discrepancy, perhaps, is more apparent than 
real. For of the entire struggle which lasted from 
1627 to 1714, though Lord Beaconsfield may have 
varied in his opinion of it at particular stages, the 
ultimate result is condemned alike both by the essay 
and the novel. The following extract from the Spirit 
of Whiffgism shows, perhaps, the real harmony which 
underlay this seeming inconsistency : — 

When Charles the First, after a series of great concessions, which 
ultimately obtained for him the support of the most illustrious of his 
early opponents, raised the royal standard, the constitution of the 
Plantagenets, and more than the constitution of the Plantagenets, 
had been restored and secured. But a portion of the able party 
■which had succeeded in effecting such a vast and beneficial 
revolution was not content to part with the extraordinary powers 



202 LIFE OF LOBD BEACONSFIELD. 

which they had obtained in this memorable struggle. This section of 
the aristocracy were the origin of the English Whigs, though that title 
was not invented until the next reign. 

That is to say, one section of the Parliamentary 
party, seeing more power within their reach than they 
had originally aimed at, resolved to make a spring at it, 
and their descendants, in 1714, pretty nearly succeeded 
in securing it. 

The Letters of Bimnymede, published also in 1836, 
are nineteen in number, and are dedicated to Sir Eobert 
Peel. They appeared at intervals between the 18th of 
January and the 15th of May, and were addressed 
chiefly to the leading members of the Government. 
One, however, was addressed to Sir Robert Peel, one to 
Lord Stanley, one to ** the People," and two to the 
House of Lords. They all relate to the politics of the 
day, and though witty and occasionally wise, are less 
able and less dignified than the Vindication of the 
British ConHitution, The invective and the satire 
are too laboured ; and, though part of what seems 
far-fetched to ourselves probably did not seem so to 
contemporaries well acquainted with every incident 
referred to, they cannot be considered on the whole 
a favourable specimen of Lord Beaconsfield's literary 
powers. 

Lord George Bentinch : a Political Biography^ was 
published in 1852, and of all his works, not being 
works of imagination, it is the one most likely to be 
known and admired by posterity. I say nothing of 
the economical opinions expressed in it, though the 
wheel of time and the course of events may again 
bring them into fashion. But that wonderful study of 
Sir Robert Peel, which the greatest masters of lite- 
rary portraiture have never surpassed, those glowing 



AS A MAN OF LETTERS. 203 

and graphic scenes of Parliamentary warfare, where 
every combatant stands out in bold relief, and every 
change of fortune is as visible as to spectators in the 
gallery, will surely live for ever, or as long as men con- 
tinue to take an interest in the history of senates 
and the romance of politics. We have also in the same 
work two most interesting dissertations, one on the 
growth of English Parties since the end of the Revo- 
lutionary war; the other on his own people and his 
father's house, in which he gives in a more connected 
form the same account of the Jewish race as first sur- 
prised the world in Gonmgshy. 

It cannot be said that Lord Beaconsfield's prose 
style is conspicuous for elegance or purity. Exceptions 
may be named, no doubt. I think the letter to the Times, 
quoted at page 14, is one such. The Vindication is 
another. But he is not, as a general rule, sufficiently 
careful to confine words in their proper signification ; his 
constructions are often harsh, and he does not always 
display the art or skill we might have expected from 
him in the disposition of his sentences. That the writer 
whose natural bent is towards warmth, brilliancy, and 
richness, should sometimes be guilty of the excess to 
which these qualities are prone, and become florid or 
fantastic, is by no means wonderful ; and Lord Beacons- 
field's taste for all that is bright, glowing, and gor- 
geous, both in nature and art, was well known. He 
used to say that he never wondered at the sun-wor- 
shippers. But I think that, for splendour of style, 
unblemished by a word that is either tawdry or meretri- 
cious, the description of Jerusalem in Tancredy and of 
the Queen's first Council in Si/bil, may be mentioned 
with some confidence that the critical judgment of pos- 
terity will not disallow their claims. 



204 LIFE OF LOBD BFACONSFIELD, 

The council of England is summoned for the first time within her 
bowers. There are assembled the prelates and captains and chief 
men of her realm ; the priests of the religion that consoled, the heroes 
of the sword that has conquered, the votaries of the craft that has 
decided the fate of empires ; men grey with thought, and fame, and 
age, who are the stewards of divine mysteries, who have toiled in 
secret cabinets, who have encountered in battle the hosts of Europe, 
who have struggled in the less merciful strife of aspiring senates ; 
men too, some of them, lords of a thousand vassals and chief proprie- 
tors of provinces, yet not one of them whose heart does not at this 
moment tremble as he awaits the first presence of the maiden who 
must now ascend her throne. 

A hum of half-suppressed conversation which would attempt to 
conceal the excitement, which some of the greatest of them have since 
acknowledged, fills that brilliant assemblage ; that sea of plumes, and 
glittering stars, and gorgeous dresses. Hush ! the portals open ; she 
comes ; the silence is as deep as that of a noontide forest. Attended 
for a moment by her royal mother and the ladies of her court, who 
bow and then retire, Victoeia ascends her throne ; a girl, alone, and 
for the first time, amid an assemblage of men. 

In a sweet and thrilling voice, and with a composed mien, which 
indicates rather the absorbing sense of august duty than an absence 
of emotion. The Queen announces her accession to the throne of her 
ancestors, and her humble hope that divine Providence will guard 
over the fulfilment of her lofty trust. 

The prelates and captains and chief men of her realm then advance 
to the throne, and kneeling before her, pledge their troth, and take 
the sacred oaths of allegiance and supremacy. 

Allegiance to one who rules over the land that the great Macedonian 
could not conquer ; and over a continent of which even Columbus 
never dreamed : to the Queen of every sea, and of nations in every 
zone. 

It is not of these that I would speak ; but of a nation nearer her 
footstool, and which at this moment looks to her with anxiety, with 
affection, perhaps with hope. Fair and serene, she has the blood and 
beauty of the Saxon. Will it be her proud destiny at length to bear 
relief to suffering millions, and, with that soft hand which might 
inspire troubadours and guerdon knights, break the last link in the 
chain of Saxon thraldom ? 

The materials for the picture were supplied to the 
artist by Lord Lyndhnrst, who took Mr. Disraeli with 
him in his carriage to Kensington Gardens, and on 



AS A MAN OF LETTERS. 205 

their return journey gave him a full account of the im- 
pressive scene which he had witnessed. 

For the passage in Tancred^ I must refer my readers 
to the work itself. But, before quitting the subject, 
I shall give one specimen of his more highly-decorative 
style, which has been supposed to violate the laws of 
taste, but which, though it belongs to the arabesque, 
can scarcely be called vicious : — 

The summer twilight had faded into sweet night ; the young and 
star-attended moon glittered like a sickle in the deep purple sky ; of 
all the luminous host Hesperus alone was visible ; and a breeze, that 
bore the last embrace of the flowers by the sun, moved languidly and 
fitfully over the still and odorous earth. 

The moonbeam fell upon the roof and garden of Gerard. It suf- 
fused the cottage with its brilliant light, except where the dark depth 
of the embowered porch defied its entry. All around the beds of 
flowers and herbs spread sparkling and defined. You could trace the 
mi.iutest walk ; almost distinguish every leaf. Now and then there 
came a breath, and the sweet peas murmured in their sleep ; or the 
roses rustled, as if they were afraid they were about to l:e roused 
from their lightsome dreams. Farther on the fruit trees caught the 
splendour of the night ; and looked like a troop of sultanas taking 
their garden air, when the eye of man could njt profane them, and 
laden with jewels. There were apples that rivalled rubies ; pears of 
topaz tint ; a whole paraphernalia of plums, some purple as the ame- 
thyst, others blue and brilliant as the sapphire ; an emerald here, and 
now a golden drop that gleamed like the yellow diamond of Gengia 
Khan. 

It is, however, in his colloquial style, that I think he 
shows to most advantage. As with his speeches, so 
with his novels, his humour is superior to his eloquence ; 
and of the language of society, the language of clubs, 
lobbies, and drawing-rooms, he was a perfect master. 



206 LIFE OF LOUD BEACONSFIFLD. 



CHAPTER XI. 

CONCLUSION. 

His Public and Private Character — Not an Adventurer — ^Devotion 
to Politics — Love of Nature, and of Animals, and of Children — 
Stories of his early Eccentricities — Life at Hughenden — Popu- 
larity in the Neighbourhood — His Seholarship — His Library — 
Lady John Manners's Reminiscences. 

Lord Beaconsfield has been called a ^' political adven- 
turer/' and if, to be a political adventurer, is to enter 
public life without patrimony or connections, and to 
rise only by the force of merit, he may have deserved 
he name. But, at that rate, many eminent men whose 
memory is still cherished must answer to the charge as 
well. Burke, Canning, Cobbett, must all be styled 
political adventurers. While, if we glance at the ranks 
of living statesmen, we shall see one among them 
who, while answering to this description more closely 
than any we have named, is yet conspicuous for honesty, 
frankness, and singleness of purpose above his fellows : 
need I name Mr. John Morley. Surely a political 
adventurer, like a military adventurer, is one who makes 
his principles subservient to his interests, and transfers 
his allegiance from side to side as advantage or con- 
venience dictates, indifferent to the cause which he is 



CONCLUSION. 207 

required to defend, and concerned only with the fulfil- 
ment of his duties and the receipt of his stipulated fee. 
English history is no stranger to such men, though they 
have usually played a secondary part. But there is no 
definition of the term ** adventurer " which will embrace 
at once LordBeaconsfield and such men as these. Lord 
Beaconsfield never changed either his principles or his 
party. He was a Tory of the type which I have de- 
scribed, from the first address which he issued to the 
electors of High Wycombe to the last speech which he 
delivered in the House of Lords half a century after- 
wards. Insulted, distrusted, and calumniated by the 
very men who should have been the first to welcome 
him, he never swerved for a moment in his attachment 
to the cause which he and they had at heart. He 
served the Tory party as no man except the younger 
Pitt had ever served it. He served it through poverty, 
adversity, and unpopularity, without ever losing heart 
or hope, or allowing his own private circumstances to 
afiect his political conduct. 

And he had his reward at last. In the life of Lord 
George Bentinck there is a passage * which I have 
always thought a very interesting one, as it applied 
prophetically to himself: ** An aristocracy hesitates 
before it yields its confidence, but never does so 
grudgingly." In his own case it hesitated long, and 
with additional circumstances not wholly creditable to 
itself But it ended by trusting him completely. Lord 
Derby set a noble example. He, too, had hesitated. 
But if asked at any later period why nobody trusted 
Mr. Disraeli, he would indignantly declare that it 
was false, adding, proudly, ** / trust him." The Eng- 
lish aristocracy seeing this, laid aside their prejudices 
* Already quoted at p 85. 



208 LIFE OF LORD BFAC0N8FIELD. 

by degrees. His character became better understood. 
A younger generation grew np familiar with his writings, 
and with those views of the English Constitution and 
English Parties, which reconciled so many of the seem- 
ing contradictions of his life : and long before he 
became Prime Minister with real power, his political 
integrity and his party loyalty were as fully and as 
freely recognized as that of any living statesman. 

Of Lord Beaconsfield's private life there is compara- 
tively little to tell, and of that little so much has been 
already told, that I cannot hope to impart any fresh- 
ness or novelty to these concluding pages. Lord 
Beaconsfield lives in Hansard. It is there that we 
must look for his portrait ; and it is evident that, 
with all his fondness for rural pleasures, he carried his 
political interests with him wherever he went. This 
is strikingly illustrated by an anecdote to be found 
in Lord Malmesbury's Diary, which must be well 
known to most of my readers. When the late Lord 
Derby was staying at Heron Court, and absorbed in 
the delights of wild-fowl shooting, his countenance 
was observed to fall when he heard that Disraeli 
was expected, and he exclaimed in a tone of annoy- 
ance, " Ah ! now we shall be obliged to talk politics.'*' 
Lord Beaconsfield, indeed, was unaffectedly fond of 
the country, and birds, trees, and flowers retained 
their charm for him to the last. He was sincerely 
grieved when a wintry gale blew down a favourite ash ; 
and once, when a half-witted peasant who was allowed 
to wander about the park showed him a dead bird which 
he had picked up, he said, ** Take it away, I cannot 
bear the sight of it.'' He was not without domestic 
pets either, for he had a dog to which he was warmly at- 
tached ; and one can fancy him well with a grave Persian 



CONCLUSION. 209 

cat, such as he describes in Baptist Hatton's chambers, 
sitting at his elbow or climbing on to his shoulders. His 
peacocks, which were a present from Sir Philip Kose, 
were after his death taken charge of by the Queen. 
But for all that his heart was in the House of Com- 
mons ; and I suspect that his love of the country was 
rather love of her external beauty than the deeper 
sympathy of Wordsworth or Scott, who found the 
charm which enthralled them rather in the heart than 
in the face of nature. 

He was a very good-natured and a very kind- 
hearted man, fond of children, and always ready to 
assist struggling merit. He was proud of bis connec- 
tion with literature, and was a good friend to many 
working brothers of the Press. In his own neigh- 
bourhood lie was extremely popular with the peasantry 
and the farmers. He was most anxious to make the 
cottagers on his small estate comfortable ; and was quite 
able to enjoy a chat with the mothers and grandmothers 
of the hamlet over their afternoon tea. He contrived, 
when at Hugbenden, to get all his official business com- 
pleted by four o'clock in the afternoon, so as to leave 
himself time for his walk or drive before dinner. He was 
never tired of the Chiltern Hills, or of talking of the in- 
teresting historical events of which they were the cradle. 

Of his life in London in his younger days we might 
construct a picture to ourselves out of his letters to his 
sister. But of his personal appearance, his coats and his 
trousers, his cuffs and his cravats, his ringlets and his 
jewellery, the world, I think, has heard enough. It would 
not differ materially from the life of any other young 
man about town when the present century was young. 
Quite recently an addition has been made to the his- 
tory of his social peculiarities by the Duke of Coburg 

14 



210 LIFE OF LORD BEACOKSFIELD. 

who says that he used to go out to dinner with his arm 
in a sling, though there was nothing the matter with 
him, to make himself look interesting. The story we 
think, may be consigned to the same limbo as the story of 
the black satin shirt and the green velvet trousers. We 
are all more interested in knowing how he lived and 
talked and amused himself during the last thirty years 
of his life, when he was before the public and a leading 
actor on the stage. 

But of such information there is but little to be 
had. He was no sportsman ; he was no farmer. He 
was neither the head of a family, nor the lord of a large 
estate, interested in the fortunes of sons and daughters, 
or busied with large schemes of local improvement. He 
was no leader of religious or philanthropical societies ; 
he seems to have cared little for travelling, and of mere 
social excitement he had probably drunk his fill in early 
youth. He was a good classical scholar, his favourite 
ancient authors being Sophocles and Horace, but in his 
intervals of leisure he seems to have found employment 
rather in composition than in study. I should think it 
is doubtful whether he even read much contemporary 
literature. 

It was a pleasure to see him in his library, and to 
hear him discourse of books. If circumstance had at 
any time diverted his attention from politics, he would 
probably have drunk deep of " those pellucid streams " 
to which he referred with unaffected enthusiasm in a 
speech at the Literary Fund banquet,"^ and have 
rivalled as an author the fame which awaited him as a 
statesman. But his choice was made in youth, and he 
never for one single instant appears to have regretted it. 

* 1868. 



CONCLUSION. 211 

At Hugbenden Lady Beaconsfield during her lifetime 
was the brightest of hostesses ; and to walk with her 
in the surrounding woods, and hear her discourse about 
her husband — it is needless to say, her favourite topic — 
was a treat not soon to be forgotten. She was particu- 
larly fond of telling how, after a capital division in the 
House of Commons in 1867, he refused an invitation to 
supper at the Carlton, that he might carry the good news 
to Grosvenor Gate without delay. ** Dizzy came home 
to me," she used to say, with a triumphant air. 

His domestic life, there is every reason to suppose, 
was one of unclouded happiness, and, due in great part 
to Lady Beaconsfield's exertions, of general cheerful- 
ness. His wife was devoted to him, and he returned her 
affection with sincerity. This aspect of Lord Beacons- 
field's life was touched upon in feeling tones by Mr. 
Gladstone in the speech from which I have already 
quoted ; — 

There was also another feeling, Sir, lying nearer to the veiy centre 
of his existence, which, though a domestic feeling, may now be re- 
ferred to without indelicacy. I mean his profound, devoted, tender, 
and grateful affection for his wife which, if, as may be the case, it 
deprived him of the honour of public obsequies, has nevertheless left 
for him a more permanent title as one who knew, amid the calls and 
temptations of political life, what was due to the sanctity and strength 
of the domestic affections, and made him in that respect an example 
to the country in which he lived. 

Lady John Manners has given us an interesting ac- 
count of liis private life after the death of Lady Bea- 
consfield, interesting, however, not so much from what 
she tells, as from the character which they serve to 
illustrate. He had long ceased to care for society on a 
large scale, even if he ever did, but enjoyed very much 
the company of a few chosen friends, " not more than 



212 LIFE OF LORD BEAC0N8FIFLD. 

the Muses nor less than the Graces,'* with whom he 
would converse freely and without any apparent reserve, 
about his own literary and political career. But except 
on such occasions he was rather a silent host, and liked 
others to talk. I have heard, however, that he was no 
foe to merriment, and, like his own Marquis of Mon- 
mouth, rather liked " boisterous gaiety," in which he 
was not called upon to take a part. 

The world has no doubt a good deal more to learn of 
Lord Beaconsfield behind the scenes. Both of his 
public and his private life the recesses have still to be 
explored. Of his early political trials after he entered 
the House of Commons little is known that is 
authentic ; while of his private affairs, and the pecuniary 
troubles with which for years he was condemned to 
struggle, most people are entirely ignorant. When the 
whole drama of his life shall be displayed to view^ 
when his relations with his colleagues and his oppo- 
nents, with the Crown and the aristocracy, with friends 
and enemies, shall stand fully revealed to us ; when all 
the difficulties and all the jealousies which impeded him 
on the threshold of his career shall be clearly under- 
stood : then, indeed, we think that the life of Benjamin 
Disraeli will be recognised as one of the most "won- 
drous tales '' which sober truth has ever told. 



THE END. 



APPENDIX. 



Franchise Clauses ^ to 1 of Reform BUI of 1867, as 
originally introduced to the House of Commons, 

3. Every Man shall be entitled to be registered as a 
"Voter, and, when registered, to vote for a Member or 
Members to serve in Parliament for a Borough, who is 
qualified as follows ; that is to say : 

1. Is of full age, and not subject to any legal Inca- 

pacity; and 

2. Is on the last Bay of July in any Year and has 

during the whole of the preceding Two Tears been 
an Inhabitant Occupier, as Owner or Tenant, of 
any Dwelling House within the Borough ; and 

3. Has during the Time of such Occupation been rated 

in respect of the Premises so occupied by him 
within the Borough to all Eates (if any) made for 
the Eelief of the Poor in respect of such Pre- 
mises ; and 

4. Has before the Twentieth Bay of July in the same 

Year paid all Poor Rates that have become pay- 
able by him in respect of the said Premises up to 
the preceding Fifth Bay of January. 
4. Every Man shall be entitled to be registered as a 
Voter, and, when registered, to vote for a Member or 
Members to serve in Parliament for a County, who is 
qualified as follows ; that is to say : 

1. Is of full Age, and not subject to any legal Inca- 

pacity ; and 

2. Is on the last Bay of July in any Year and has 

during the Twelve Months immediately preceding 
been the Occupier, as Owner or Tenant, of Pre- 



214 LIF:E of lord BEAG0N8FIELD. 

mises of any Tenure within the County of the 
rateable Value of Fifteen Pounds or upwards ; 
and 

3. Has during the Time of such Occupation been rated 

in respect to the Premises so occupied by him to 
all Rates (if any) made for the Relief of the Poor 
in respect of the said Premises ; and 

4. Has before the Twentieth Day of July in the same 

Year paid all Poor Rates that have become pay- 
able by him in respect of the said Premises up to 
the preceding Fifth Bay of January. 
6. Every Man shall be entitled to be registered, and, 
when registered, to vote at the Election of a Member 
or Members to serve in Parliament for a County or 
Borough, who is of full Age, and not subject to any legal 
Incapacity, and is on the last Day of July in any Year 
and has during the Year immediately preceding been 
resident in such County or Borough, and is possessed of 
any One or more of the Qualifications following ; that is 
to say : 

1. Is, and has been during the Period of such Resi- 

dence, a Graduate or Associate in Arts of any 
University of the United Kingdom; or a Male 
Person who has passed at any Senior Middle Class 
Examination of any University of the United 
Kingdom : 

2. Is, and has been during the Period aforesaid, an 

ordained Priest or Deacon of the Church of Eng- 
land ; or 

3. Is, and has been during the Period aforesaid, a Mini- 

ster of any other Religious Denomination appointed 
either alone or with not more than One Colleague 
to the Charge of any registered Chapel or Place 
of Worship, and is, and has been during such 
Period, officiating as the Minister thereof ; or 

4. Is, and has been during the Period aforesaid, a 

Serjeant-at-Law or Barrister-at-Law in any of the 
Inns of Court in England, or a Certificated 
Pleader or Certificated Conveyancer ; or 

5. Is, and has been during the Period aforesaid, a Cer- 

tificated Attorney or Solicitor or Proctor in Eng- 
land or Wales j or 



APPENDIX, 215 

6. Is, and has been during the Period aforesaid, a duly 

qualified Medical Practitioner registered under the 
Medical Act, 1858 ; or 

7. Is, and has been during the Period aforesaid, a 

Schoolmaster holding a Certificate from the Com- 
mittee of Her Majesty's Council on Education : 
Provided that no Person shall be entitled to be registered 
as a Voter or to vote in respect of any of the Qualifica- 
tions mentioned in this Section in more than one Place. 

6. Every Man shall be entitled to be registered, and, 
when registered, to vote at the Election of a Member or 
Members to serve in Parliament for a County or Borough, 
who is of full A.ge, and not subject to any legal Incapa- 
city, and is on the First Day of July in any Year and has 
during the Tivo Years immediately preceding been resi- 
dent in such County or Borough, and is possessed of any 
One or more of the Qualifications following; that is to 
say: 

1. Has on the First Day of July in any Year, and has 

had during the Two Years immediately preceding, 
a Balance of not less than Fifty Pounds deposited 
in some Savings Bank in his own sole Name, and 
for his own Use ; or 

2. Holds on the First Day of July in any Year, and 

has held during the Two Years immediately pre- 
ceding, in the Books of the Governor and Comjjany 
of the Bank of England or Ireland in his own 
sole Name and for his own Use any Parliamentary 
Stocks or Funds of the United Kingd(;m to the 
Amount of not less than Fifty Pounds ; or 

3. Has during the Twelve Montlis immediately prece- 

ding the Fifth Day of April in any Year been 
charged with a Sum of not less than Twenty Shil- 
lings in the whole of the Year for Assessed Taxes 
and Income Tax, or either of such Taxes, and has 
before the Twentieth Day of July in that Year 
paid all such Taxes due from him up to the 
preceding Fifth Day of January: 
Provided, first, that every Person entitled to vote in 
respect of any of the Qualifications mentioned in this 
Section shall on or before the Twentieth Day of July in 
each Year claim to be registered as a Voter ; secondly, 



216 LIFE OF LORD BFACONSFIELD. 

that no Person shall be entitled to be registered as a 
Voter or to vote in respect of any of the Qualifications 
mentioned in this Section for more than One Place. 

7. A Person registered as a Voter for a Borough by 
reason of his having been charged with and paid the 
requisite Amount of Assessed Taxes and Income Tax, or 
either of such Taxes, shall not by reason of being so 
registered lose any right to which he may be entitled (if 
otherwise duly qualified) to be registered as a Voter for 
the same Borough in respect of any Franchise involving 
Occupation of Premises and Payment of Rates, and 
when so registered in respect of such double Qualification 
he shall be entitled to give Two Votes for the Member, 
or (if there be more than One) for each Member to be 
returned to serve in Parliament for the said Borough. 



INDEX. 



Aberdeen, Lord, becomes Pre- 
mier, 84 ; resigns, 90. 

Abyssinian war, the, 117. 

« Adullam, the Cave of," 100. 

Affghan war, 150-152. 

Agricultural distress, speeches 
on, 61, 62, 71-73. 

Agricultural Holdings Act, 132. 

Alarcos, 198. 

Alroy, Wondrous Tale of^ 188, 
190. 



B. 



Bath Letter, the, 125, note. 

Beaconsfield, Lord. See Disraeli, 
Benjamin. 

Beaconsfield, Lady. See Disraeli, 
Mary Ann. 

Bedchamber Plot, 25. 

Bentinck. Lord George, 69, 70 ; 
Life of, 63, 67, 75-77, 202. 

Berlin Memorandum, 138 ; Con- 
gress of, 143-149. 

Buckinghamshire, Disraeli re- 
tui'ned for, 69. 

Budgets. See inf. Disraeli. 

Bulgarian atrocities, 139. 

Bulwer, Lytton, 7, 8. 



0. 

Carnarvon, Lord, 110, 111, 129, 

142. 
Chartists, the, 25, 53, 73. 
Church, position of the, 46, 56, 

103-108, 130, 134, 173-175. 
Church and Queen, 103. 
Cobden, Richard, 31, 94. 
Coningshy, 22, 33, 37 ; plot of, 40 

-46, 192-93 ; doctrines of, 41- 

46 ; characters in, 48, 194-95. 
Conservatism, 22, 35, 44, 163- 

172. 
Contarini Fleming, 5, 189. 
Cranborne, Lord. See Salisbury. 
Crimean -war, 88-91. 
Crisis Examined, the, 11, 200. 
Croker, J. W., 48, 75. 
Cyprus, acquisition of, 150, 



D. 

Derby, Earl of, and Disraeli, 70; 
declines office, 73; first minis- 
try, 78-84 ; again declines 
office, 91 ; second ministry, 95- 
101 ; third ministry, 110-114. 

Derby, Earl of (son of above), 95, 
109, 110, 129, 142. 

Disraeli, Benjamin, birth-place of, 
1 ; education, 2 ; first appear- 



15 



218 



INDEX. 



ance in print, 3 ; travels, 4, 5 ; 
enters society, 6, 7 ; candidate 
for Parliament, 8-17 ; elected 
at Maidstone, 18 ; maiden 
speech, 22-24 ; marriage, 27 ; 
visits the continent, 68 ; leader 
of the Opposition, 70 ; Chan- 
cellor of Exchequer, 78; his 
first Budget, 80-81 ; second 
Budget, 83 ; again leads Oppo- 
sition, 86 ; Chancellor of Exche- 
quer (1857), 95 ; first Reform 
Bill, 97-100; political isola- 
tion, 103 ; again Chancellor, 
110 ; second Reform Bill, 111- 
113 and Appendix ; Prime Mi- 
nister, 114 ; again in Opposi- 
tion, 119-129; Lord Rector of 
Glasgow, 125 ; second Ministry, 
129-154 ; domestic measures, 
131-135 ; becomes Lord Bea- 
consfield, 135 ; foreign policy, 
136-152, and 162 ; resignation, 
154; last illness, 155; death, 
156 ; funeral, 156 ; as a states- 
man and orator, 161-187 ; as a 
man of letters, 189-205 ; per- 
sonal characteristics, 206-212. 

Disraeli, Isaac, 1, 2. 

Disraeli, Mary Ann, 7 ; marriage, 
27 ; becomes Lady Beacons- 
field, 123 ; death of, 123 ; at 
Hughenden, 211. 

Disraeli, Sarah, 1; letters to, 
4-5, 6, 8,11,18,23,27,37,49, 
63, 68, 70. 



E. 

Ellenborough, Lord, 96. 
Endymion, 154, 196. 
Exchequer, Chancellor of, Dis- 
raeli as. See Disraeli. 



G. 

Gladstone, Mr. 22, 31,40, 72,79, 

93 ; his Irish Resolutions, 116 ; 

first Ministry, 119-129; second 

Ministry, 154 ; on Lord Bea- 

consfiel'd, 159, 211. 
Globe, the, Disraeli and, 13-16. 
Granby, Marquis of, 69. 



H. 

Henley,' Mr., 78, 79, 96. 
Henrietta Temple, 18, 188, 190. 
Hope, Henry, 37. 
Hughenden, 28, 75, 156, 157,208, 

211. 
Hume, Joseph, 8-9, 13, 16-17 



T. 



Infernal Marriage, the 197. 
Ireland, Disraeli on, 59, 172, 182. 
Italian War, the, 101. 



J. 



Jew Bill, 97. 



F. 

Free Trade, 59-85. 



L. 

Lewis, Mrs. "Wyndham. See Dis- 
raeli, Mary Ann. 

Liverpool Cabinet, the, Disraeli 
on, 42-43. 

Lothair, 154, 196. 

Lyndhurst, Lord, 10, 17. 



INDEX. 



219 



M. 

Maidstone, elected at, 18. 
Malmesbury, Lord, 78, 95, 110, 

129 ; his Memoirs, 78, 92, 208. 
Manchester, Disraeli at, 49, 121. 
Manners, Lord John, 37, 48, 96, 

129, 156. 
Marlborough, letter to the Duke 

of, 153. 
Marylebone, candidature at, 11. 
Maynooth Grant, the, GO. 
Melbourne, Lord, 7, 13, 25. 
Militia Bills, 79, 80. 
Monarchy, position of the, 46, 56, 

175-180. 



Northcote, Sir S., 110, 129, 156. 

o. 

O'Connell, 8, 13, 22. 



P. 

Pakington, Sir John, 78, 79, 96, 
110. 

Palmerston, Lord, 77, 79, 88 ; be- 
comes Premier, 91 ; defeated, 
95 ; again Premier, 102 ; death 
of, 108. 

Peel, Sir Robert, 21, 22, and the 
Bed-Chamber Plot, 24; be- 
comes Premier (1841), 28 ; 
attacked by Disraeli, 36, 60-66, 
and 186; defeated, 67-68. 

Popanilla, The Voyage of, 197. 

Post Office scandal, the, 60. 

Prees, the power of the, 46. 

Press, newspaper, 86. 



Protection, Disraeli on, 30-33, 

62. 
Public Worship Regulation Bill, 

130. 



E. 

Reform Bills, See inf. Disraeli. 
Rise of Iskander, 188, 190. 
Royal Titles Bill, 135. 
Riinnymede, Letters of, -202. 
Russell, Lord John, 7 rd, 82, 

88 ; as Foreign Secretary, 103 

Prime Minister, 108. 
Russo-Turkish War, 140-143. 



s. 

Salisbury, Marquis of, 110, 111, 
129, 139, 156, 158. 

Sanitas sanitatuin, 131-32. 

San Stephano, Treaty of, 141, 
143. 

Shrewsbury, elected at, 28 
speech at, 30-34. 

Slough speech, the, 2Q. 

Smythe, Hon. George, 37, 48 

Spirit of Whiggism, 

Stanley, Lord. See Dei'by 

Star Chamber, the, 3. 

Suez Canal Shares, 150. 

Sybil, 22, 25, 26, 202 ; theme of 
51-55 ; plot of, 193 ; charac- 
ters in, 194-195. 



T. 



Tancred, 75, 195. 

Taunton, candidature at, 12. 

" Territorial constitution," our, 

65, 168-172. 
Toryism popular, 9, 15-16, 37, 

57-58. 



220 



INDEX. 



V. 

Venetia, 18, 188, 191. _ 
Vindication of the British Consti- 
tution, the 10, 200. 
Vivian Grey, 3, 188. 



w. 

■Welinjg,+ -''■' ike of, Disraeli's 

speech ®P 8. 
Westmeath Committee, 121, 
What is He? 199. 



Whigs, the, Disraeli on, 11, 41 

45-46, 166. 
Wycombe, candidatures at, 8, 10. 



T. 

Young Duke, 3, 189. 

'< Young England," 34-58. 



z. 



Zulu war, 153. 



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